Photo: GAA
The draw for Round 2 of the qualifiers has just been made and we’ve been paired to Tipperary. A trip to Tipp, we’ll take that.
The Round 2 fixtures will be played the weekend after next. Times and dates will be confirmed by the GAA later.
Photo: GAA
The draw for Round 2 of the qualifiers has just been made and we’ve been paired to Tipperary. A trip to Tipp, we’ll take that.
The Round 2 fixtures will be played the weekend after next. Times and dates will be confirmed by the GAA later.
Tricky
Prob one of the worst draws we could have got
Neither Radio one not rte new now would not work for me on the train! Panic stations. We should beat Tipp
I’d take tipp over any of the northern teams.
Bring it on the tougher the challenge the better.
Beat Tipp, get Clare in the next round and then play Kerry in the Munster final
Never been to Semple, so looking forward to that and we will bring a big crowd.
It mightn’t be what we want, but it might be what we need. If we’re going to do anything significant this year we need to deal with challenges like this. Mayo to win.
happy with this in a football sense, could have been easier for the supporters to travel.
mayo will give them respect as they were recent all ireland semi finalists .
its a nice step up from limerick in terms of quality but we should be winning this
Not the one I was hoping for!! With the hurlers out of the Championship Tipperary will be giving it their all to get a win. Definitely a tough battle ahead! but if the mind set is good and play football like they can we have a chance . Maigheo Abu
After monaghan, this was the toughest draw we could get. Certainly not one I wanted. Tipp just missed out on promotion to div 1. They’ll be hugely up for this after losing semi to us in 2016 and being caught by cork a few weeks ago.
Our players need to be spot on for this otherwise we’ll be out. Simple as that. Andy to start with Doherty as well. Keegan is back. Any idea how long Vaughan or Harry are out for? Tipp are strong in the middle and we know they have very good forwards.
How did they determine home advantage given teams were drawn from separate pots? Were all provincial semi finalist losers allowed home advantage and drawn first unless they were drawn against a division 3 or 4 side?
Thurles pitch should suit us.
Tough draw, but we have to get used of these now if we are to progress…better than Monaghan, Tyrone and Cavan
The county will be getting behind them with the hurlers out.
The reality is we were very lucky with a limerick draw. We won’t continue to be and need to be stepping up a gear each time so as not to get caught cold later. We will be ready in two weeks and beat them.
Larry that’s correct. Tipp were drawn first and us 2nd so they got home advantage in our case. Mightn’t be any harm to stay on the road as our home record is nothing to be singing about.
I expect a backlash for Tipp but even that considered we’re well able to beat them and we will.
Semple Stadium is a great venue looking forward to it.
Will be a long 10 days in this house….the Wife’s from Thurles.
Maigh Eo Abú
Yes, Tipp were drawn first so that was that Larry.
Tricky but we should have enough to beat them, where their strong (forward line) we have the backs to counter them.
A decent performance from us should do it.
This kind of challenge is not what we wanted as we face into 5 games in 5 weeks. Tipp have a real scoring threat and will feel they have a score to settle with us after 2016.
Listening to the pod cast this morning the alarming news from it was how long Harrison will be out. He is our best man market in the FB line and Tipp will certainly target this area. O’Donoghue is untested at this level, Higgins isn’t a man marker and Ger Cafferkey has his own issues.
This is a really tough draw at this stage.
It is what it is,some lads need to step up from the limerick game.
With Diarmuid back we should be winning this one.
Haven’t been to Thurlassic Park since Rage Against the Latrine! Anyone???
To stay in we have to beat everyone put in front of us so we gonna have to tip tip simple as that. Maigheabu
Tipp will focus the minds. They are a decent team but have a soft underbelly. Cork gave them a good spanking in the Munster semi-final. We’ll have to be on our guard and sharp but if we have any notions of super 8 we have to be beating teams like that with little fuss.
A decent draw in avoiding Monaghan. We might as well get a good proper look at ourselves.
If we perform we will win simple as that.
Tipp are better than Meath and look what Meath did to Tyrone. Things suddenly got serious now. We’ll need our best performance of 2018 to win this one. And we’ll need to match the intensity tipp will bring.
And our supporters will definitely need to produce it’s loudest performance.
Dicey draw but so be it..Sean Kearns will relish the prospect of playing us on their own doorstep..Time to up the gears.
Have to happy with that. Northern teams avoided.. And realisticlly playing more division 4 teams and letting up big scores will not bring us on. Tipp will be tough but beatable. We should relish the tougher challenge, and if we win other teams will notice us more and consider us a threat than if we beat leitrim by 15 points. Semple is a great venue, pitch will be in fantastic condition. Our home form is poor…and I for one don’t mind hitting the road on a sat evening when the weather is good.
Paddy Power have installed us as strong favourites to win – we’re priced at 2/7, they’re 10/3. Odds here.
i reckon you mean feile Joe, i was there once or twice since that !
Good draw,could not have expected any better
As a Tipp man I am delighted with the draw to see where we are. We were very flat against Cork having beat them well in the league. Kearns was giving out all roads before them game about the 6 day turnaround after the Waterford match and I think it did not help our performance. Anyway no excuses going forward and if we bring our league performance into this game, we should give a good account of ourselves.
Nice draw ….
Tipp will play football. Good big pitch also.
Both to the benefit of Mayo.
Big step up from Limerick but no harm in that.
Mayo seem to be playing in the munster championship for the last couple of seasons & it has gone quite well !!!!
Tyrone Monaghan and Cavan likely to make it through to next round …………as I think we will
mayohusband i agree , we will both know where we are after this one , our semi-final two years ago was tight enough in the end
Avoiding Monaghan is all Mayo needed to do. Tipp can’t really defend and sides like that suit Mayo to the ground plus home advantage won’t be much use as any supporters there will be mostly Mayo. Round 3 objective avoid Tyrone,Cavan and Monaghan all sides that are decent and will play defensive and won’t suit Mayo…
Agree RiseAgain. 2 teams that will play football. Should be a good one.
I wouldn’t have us as short as 2/7. Tipp have some fine footballers and after Limerick getting 3 goals we’ll have to be on our toes defensively.
I think the step up in quality of opponent is a good thing for us. It will be a challenge but Rochford will have the homework done. No doubt about that.
It is the standout game and will prob be on Sky. Time will depend on world cup fixtures
Still don’t understand how the home advantage was determined – was it predetermined that all teams in the losing semi finalist bowl were going to be drawn first or did they alternate which bowl they drew the first team from for each tie?
Anyway it is what it is, big pitch should suit Mayo. There will we no experiments here though, our strongest team out and no nonsense
Will we know today when we will be playing Tipperary ?
Perfect draw. We avoided the Northern teams and will still get a tough challenge. Should we win it’ll bring us on for round 3.
Monster final is also on that Saturday evening so imagine our game will be on at 5 which suits me
Agreed – certainly one of the harder draws but a team that we should be beating
@James Fleming, as per MayoGAA twitter we’ll find out tomorrow.
Rochy should get Leeroy take care of Michael Quinlivan and start Shane Nally for Stephen Coen in Midfield would love to see Nally spraying balls of his left in to Cillian and Andy on the best surface in Ireland.
It will be a test for Mayo against Tipp. But if they want to progress in this years championship these are the teams they will be expected to beat at a minimum.
No point reaching round 3 or even 4 without a proper test otherwise they will be caught cold.
This is exactly were we knew we would be if we lost to Galway. The tipp draw is difficult, but it is expected. Its extremely tough road in qualifiers as we know, I believe we will get through the qualifiers and make the super 8.
The issue were going to have is all the consecutive games leading up to the qualifiers.
We literally will have 5 consecutive weeks of games.
So lets think of a moderate position here.
Tipp win, Armagh win, cork win, (phew)
the following two weeks then, its the super 8’s.
Donegal away, Tyrone home(maybe roscommon),
then 1 week break and its: dublin croker.
Predicting this woudl be difficult, but ill go for 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss. Yikes, do we make the semi then???
Based on the hurling (wexford.tipp etc) it will be very hard to be fresh week in week out.
Injuries is the danger as we are struggling here and a flat week in advance of super 8’s.
Well us Mayo folk wont have much time for watching the world cup and that’s for sure……
There was a 3rd bowl to determine who would have Home advantage but as far as I’m aware it wasn’t used. Why weren’t Tipp and Mayo thrown into the 3rd bowl and then one of them pulled out first to see who would be at home. Seeing that neither of them are division 3 or 4 side the automatic home advantage rule cannot be applied surely. What was the 3rd bowl there for? The fella on the radio mentioned it just before the draw started. Anyway idea anyone?
Tricky but of course Mayo will still be strong favourites. Tipp just missed out on promotion to Div 1 and i think the six day turnaround caught them against Cork. Liam Kearns is an astute manager and he will have them well prepped and ready. They have the forwards ( as we in Galway know well) and any team that gets to an All Ireland semi needs to be taken seriously. However Mayo are building towards bigger things i would expect them to win by 5 or 6.
Was it last year Tipp went up to breffni park and beat Cavan in the championship? Who knocked them out last year? Tyrone?
2nd hardest draw we could have got and an awkward drive from Mayo. I wonder how many of the regulars will be brought back into the side now? Andy and Leeroy definitely, possibly Diarmuid and Jason Doc.
Munster final is on at 7pm that evening alright
Dodgy dodgy draw, Tipp are a very good outfit. Was hoping for Leitrim or Sligo, but not to be. Make no mistake, if we’re not 100% tuned in we’ll be bet. Tipp have had a nice break since the Cork game so they’ll be fresher than us. I’d be starting Andy, Doc, Keegan, and Diarmuid in this. If Tipp got ahead at all they’d have the class to finish us. Worried.
Jim Flag – that’s exactly the point I was asking about? Did they not use the third bowl? Maybe a ball from each pot of 8 teams was placed in the third bowl and it was drawn out then??
That’s it roger milla. T-shirts at the time for sale down there reflecting the big movie/band of the times. 25yrs ago now so I am due a visit alright.
A better test for us as we move through the qualifiers. Tipp will be tricky enough to overcome but we will win it. Far from handy but well, well winable. Up Mayo.
AM confused about the home draw bit. They seemed to miss a bit in the explanation this morning..
The semi final loser must have had home advantage unless they were a Division 1 or 2 team and drawn against a Division 3 or 4 team.
They did not mention that this morning.
Better playing Tipp than a battering ram from ulster and a higher risk of injuries.
With harrison and Vaughan out who will mark quinlivin
Conor Sweeney is good too, where did cork play them in the championship ?
Fair play to Ger caff getting the 100th appearance , however I would not like to see him play this game
Anyone watching on tv could see Tom Parsons was not happy with the draw and looked slightly concerned. I honestly feel we’ll need to really dig this one out. Time for Diarmuid O’Connor to show what he can really do around the middle. I also think Shane Nally looked sharp and in excellent condition when brought on.
We wanted to avoid Monaghan but the only other team who genuinely believe they could beat us would be Tipp. None of the other potential opponents would have truly believed they’d beat Mayo. That’s what makes this very dangerous.
We were sloppy at the back against a very weak limericks attack. Gave away soft scores. Aidan O Sé looked a frustrated figure. We need Aido buzzing in Thurles in two weeks time and we need our defensive unit/structure well oiled and tuned in.
How long are Vaughan and Harry out for??
Well it’s a tough draw alright,…. Glad Regan, Durcan and Hanley got serious game time versus Limerick now… But Andy and Jason Doherty might be a better option next day out…. James Durcan done really well and could hold his place…. But that would depend on Diarmuid O Connor talking Stephen Coen place at midfield…. Stephen Coen actually played an excellent game on Saturday… I think Crowe might start instead of Ger Caff…. Hopefully Harrison and Vaughan are getting nearer to full fitness…. But I think we can depend on either of them to be playing against Tipperary, seeing as neither made the 26 last Saturday… Eoin O Donaghue also took a knock late on in the match on Saturday, and was applying Ice to his knee after he came off.. So Big Time this is a real serious challenge,.. Definitely NOT a gimme… I think we need to start well, we have to stop giving team’s a goal start, something that we have been doing far too much…Roscommon 2 goals conceded early minutes, in last year drawn quarter final Dublin All Ireland, Dublin League and Limerick on Saturday last…. In 3 outa our last 10 league and championship matches the opposition had a dream goal advantage immediately after the ball was thrown in… We gotta stop this!
The team to avoid was Monaghan and we did, it’s a tough test but we’ll win this. I don’t see much fuss really.
Never been to Semple before either so can make a day of it.
Now, countdown until game day.
My head tells me to be cautious thats its Tipp, yet they went down to Cork very tamely in the Munster championship, also a few players gone away to the States for the Summer. Bigger obstacles ahead, what happens if we draw Donegal / Kerry or the Dubs in the semi finals.
A tougher draw than some but as people have already commented we need to and should be beating this level of opposition. I think Monaghan away was the one to avoid and was happy enough after that. Tipp aren’t quite at the pitch they were a couple of years ago either I think. Undoubtedly a trickier test than Limerick though and will need respect.
I wouldn’t be worried about freshness at this stage. We’ve only played 2 games with a four week break in between and now another two weeks break again. Its perfect actually. If we got a handy draw in the next round (any from Offaly/Clare, Longford/Kildare, Sligo/Armagh, Leitrim/Louth would be ideal)
Personally I’d go with something like this:
1. Clarke
2. O’Donoghue
3. Barret
4. Higgins
5. Keegan
6. Boyler
7. P Durcan
8. Seamie
9. D O’Connor
10. McLoughlin
11. Aido
12. Hanley
13. J Durcan
14. Cillian
15. Moran
Subs: Hennelly, Crowe, Caff, Harrison (if fit)/Drake, Vaughan (if fit), Coen, Nally, Doherty, Loftus, Regan, Boland/Gallagher
Barrett would tighten up the full back line and Leeroy can switch to Quinlivan if required. Diarmuid has more pace, mobility and shooting ability than Coen so worth a run at MF. Would like to see that FF line together to see the damage that could be done. J Doc is a serious option off the bench and looked hungry the last day but feel we would benefit more from giving Hanley game time.
The draw: they picked out a round 1 winner and a beating semi finalist without revealing identity. Put those two teams into a bowl and picked both out. 1st out got home advantage. It was very straighforward. The exception was that if the 2nd team drawn happened to be a 3/4 division side against a 1/2 division side they would then be allocated home advantage.
The only time I can recall being at a Mayo match in Semple Stadium was an under-21 final against Kerry back around 1994? Am I imagining things?
So your looking at Monaghan,Cavan,Tyrone, Clare ,Kildare, Armagh and probably Louth in a Round 3 qualifier if we overcome Tipperary which will be a tricky enough game wouldn’t judge them on that one off game v Cork.
A difficult draw and one we could loose But once we lost to Galway it was always going to be a perilous route.
There forward line can do damage to our FB line and Quinlivan is one of the best players in the country. He is the only player in last few years who really put Lee on the back foot when he did it in the semi-final 2016. That sad we should be able to grind them down physically eventually…if we can keep our FB line from being to porous… sweeper will be important.
It’s remarkable….Yesterday, some people here were ecstatic at the news that Tom Parsons was conducting the draw.
And now, because we’re away, some people are coming up with conspiracy theories about third bowls etc !!!!
As for the draw itself, yes, it’s a potentially tricky tie, but only if Mayo aren’t fully focussed..
But I don’t expect that to be the case. There won’t be any complacency ahead of this game, and after what could be an excellent game, I would see Mayo win by about 5 points.
One thing to watch out for though..A number of teams who flopped in their own provincial championship, have come back much stronger in the Qualifiers.
Kildare flopped against Carlow, were handed a tricky draw away to Derry, but won impressively by putting up a big score.
Meath flopped against Longford, and though they got beaten again by Tyrone, there was a huge improvement in their performance.
That’s the sort of bounce that we can expect from Tipperary, because I believe they are a much better team than they showed against Cork.
Thurles not a bad journey. Feral Boland played an All Ireland U21 hurling final there in 2016 and possibly a Mcgrath Cup game the year before. Has anyone else in the Mayo panel played their?
https://www.sportsfile.com/search/Mayo-tipperary-2002-qualifier/
Another flashback to 2002
I agree that this is a pretty good draw for us. We need to be focused because Tipp are a decent side, remember what the did to Galway in 2016, in a game where Galway had been hot favorites.
We are well able to win this, and NEED to be winning comfortably enough. At least Tipp will play football which will suit us, and Semple Stadium is a wide open pitch which will also suit us. I always felt that Round 3 would be the toughest round, so a decent challenge one week before R3 is not a bad thing. Avoid a northern team in R3 (which will be difficult cos there will potentially be a 50% chance of drawing one!) and then we will have possibly Laois, Fermanagh, Cork or Roscommon in R4. I know that’s getting ahead of myself, but I’m a glass half full type of person! Contrary to Seán Cavanagh’s belief, I don’t see any reason why we can’t make the S8’s…
Amc. There is absolutely no gaurantee Roscommon will be in that draw. Next Sundays game is 50/50 one I’m worried about..
@tuamstar… I did say possibly, but if they are not, we cannot draw Galway afaik in R4 as at this stage repeat pairings are avoided, so the only Connacht team we could face in R4 is Roscommon. I could be wrong there though.
I actually think that the Connacht final loser will be the toughest draw in R4.
Agree.. its going to get tougher for everybody from here on in….
To answer Larry’s question about home advantage: 2 teams were drawn from each bowl and put into a 3rd bowl. Then the first picked from this 3rd bowl was the ‘home’ team. This was repeated for each pairing.
Yeah, tough test but maybe it’s what we need, at least they now know it’s not going to be a walkover, but a stiff test, that will focus the minds, Mayo have the game to beat anybody, so if they turn it on, and really go for it from the off, we should be fine, lots to fine tune in the meantime.
Gonna make this one thank god..looking forward to a tough challenge and entertaining game. Its a long long way to tipperary though!!!?
just under three hours i see….what are the roads like?
Last time I was in Semple Stadium was 1995 at the all Ireland Under 21 final replay we lost narrowly to Kerry but I left the ground with great hope as we played well Martin Carney was the manager. We should have too much for Tipp but they have good forwards and will be tricky
Thanks for the clarification RockyRoad
Mayo at 2/7 is buying money.
Tipp have gone back a good bit since 2016, Cork dispatched them with ease. The open pitch will suit us, there will be no home support.
Let’s not be fatalistic about this team, they’ve more than earned our confidence.
Tuamstar ye will win the connnacht final. Its exactly the game Galway wanted. Id be surprised with anything less than a 5 point win.
It’s not going to be easy,but I think we have the experience and the players to win,hon Mayo
1) Pick the best 15 to start cause Tipp rated high enough to warrant that respect.
2) Keep their standout players quiet, that means 2 of their FF line and CHB Kiely. 2 years ago we had a plan for Quinlivan and bar a missed penalty call by the ref it worked well… but the same tactic robbed us of dynamism on the front foot. We were flat that day and COS goal flattered us on the scoreboard.
Fail to plan for Quinlivan and we leave ourselves open for an ambush. I recall they had some good running half forwards that year too but we have brilliant half backs who can get them running the wrong direction.
THanks for the clarification rocky road. I certainly wasn’t suggesting any conspiracies observer2, just an interest in how they came up with home and away. True to form, RTEs Darren Frehill was amateurish in his description of how it worked from what I heard on the radio anyway.
It will certainly affect the amount of bedding in of the new lads that can be done I was thinking, and then again this game has potential to be more difficult than our next should we win, I think we will win well. But you know what we need these new lads to be well fit to put away Tipp now if they are to match Dublin standards in a couple of months.
Maybe it’s a stupid question, Wille Joe, apologies if u think it is, but if u were to do, a will we win poll now, and another just before the game, would there be a big difference in the voting? Seems to me a lot of posters on here are worried about this 1
A good step up, we need to be able to deal with teams like this. Bring it on!
I have a feeling Aidan might be asked to marshal Quinlivan.
a good game for Mayo , no blanket defence from Tipp so should be a good game of football , Mayo need best team available starting and will have to be near their best to win . Sort out fullback no more soft goals , Tipp could score three or four goals if defence is not fully tuned in , and forwards need to play with more pace and stop the messing , direct football needed for the full game and not just stop and start football
Quinlivan is not the physical problem that Donaghy poses. We were over this last year. Donaghy is a full 6’5″ and a full heavyweight. Quinlivan is around 6’2″ and a light heavyweight by comparison. Pulling Aidan back to mind him would be disastrous. Quinlivan is much more mobile than Donaghy and would turn Aidan inside out for two goals.
I wouldn’t be putting Lee in on such an assignment being not long back from injury. Play a sweeper and assign Caolan Crowe as a man marker. Caolan Crowe is a good physical match up on Quinlivan. Quinlivan is taller and longer limbed than Damian Comer and hence I don’t believe Chris Barrett is a good match up. Ger Caff would have problems with Quinlivans ability to twist and turn. Caolan Crowe has a power and weight advantage on Quinlivan and would in my view win more of the collisions, 50:50s and be well able to push Quinlivan away from goal.
Jesus I hope not Revellino.
I would be starting Caolan Crowe for this one. Need tall man markers to marshall Sweeney and Quinlivan. This may not be a game for young O’Donoghue.
I’d expect there would be, Mayo Viking!
I’m a bit bemused, by the way, at all these furrowed brows – think how Tipp must feel drawing us. They’d have started out this summer with realistic hopes of making the Super 8s but now they’re paired with one of a small group of teams with real All-Ireland ambitions. I’m not saying it won’t be a tough game for us – potentially one we could lose if we haven’t got our act together on the day – but if we’re tuned in properly there’s no way we should be losing this one.
Fair points JP.
Waited back Saturday to watch subs and guys that came on warming down. They ran 6 or 8 80 meter reps of not full sprints but a good pace. Leeroy was buckled at the end of them. Would agree that it’s too early in his comeback to give him this assignment.
Saturdays defensive display will not cut the mustard against Tipp.
The perineal Mayo syndrome has kicked in WJ. Our opposition take on mythical proportions and we become a mediocre Div 4 outfit. Tipp are undoubtedly a step up and need to be respected, however, I’m nearly happier we’re not playing them in that Jonah of a ground in Castlebar.
http://munster.gaa.ie/2018/05/26/munster-gaa-football-senior-championship-semi-final-cork-v-tipperary/
Definitely worth a read… they kicked 9 points v cork in the championship, saying that we didn’t do much better V Galway
Liam Kearns was sitting just in front of me at the Kerry Clare game and was busily making notes about both teams, he left about twenty minutes before the final whistle as he wasn’t going to learn a whole pile at the end of that encounter. It was a whitewash of a game as Clare just failed to show up on the day and Kerry had one of those games where everything went their way. I have no doubt that kearns had scouts at all games involving possible opposition as he is a very capable manager.
Tipp were expected to beat cork and make it to the Munster Final and that was the general talk and Cork silently crept onto the field and gave them a sharp awakening. Tipp we’ll be very disappointed as a result of that loss and will have serious aspirations of making the S8’s. They will relish an opportunity to play a team like Mayo as they know ye will go toe to toe with them and they will fancy their chances with their strong forward unit.
Mayo would deal with Tipp in August or September I have no doubt about that as they are as good as anyone still bothered with training and dietary schedules in those months but this is June and for some reason in recent seasons they seem to splutter at this time of the year. I think Mayo will win the game but I wouldn’t be in the slightest shocked if they put ye out of the Championship. Kearns is a manager who has bucked the odds against several teams that were deemed far stronger than Tipp so Rochford should expect at least one rabbit out of the tactical hat.
Good luck and I hope ye make the S8’s, Kerry would just love a crack at ye in that competition no more than the reverse I have no doubt.
From a practical point of view I would bet that this game will be fixed for 3pm or 5pm on the Saturday. Mayo’s games is probably the best tie from a TV perspective, I’d say it’ll be the one picked. The Munster Final is fixed for the Saturday at 7pm, I would imagine they’ll avoid a clash there.
Tipp are a fairly decent team and like Roscommon last year, they will give us our fill of it. I still expect Mayo to win and win it well if they are fully dialed in, but if like last years drawn game against Roscommon we go out and give them any ideas of an upset victory, it could be a painful experience because they have 2 forwards that would make the Top 3 teams starting lineup.
The qualifiers are good in a way for Mayo, they’re getting plenty of games and games are much better than training when you’re trying to sharpen things up. Plus, a few days out in exotic places like limerick and Thurles are never a bad thing for any fan.
This is a tricky game and second toughest draw we could get . But putting all things into context it’s a far tougher draw for Tipp and we have all the resources to see this through. Plus it will be real good workout which, if we win, will only help the team going forward
Focused/tuned in yes Mayo will win however that also means Mayo will be playing their strongest starting team for this game so no Hanley or J Durcan starting.
@Mayonaze the rossies are well capable of beating Galway again especially if they manage to keep 15 men on the field.
Cork beat them by 11 in Thurles.
if we can’t beat them then no business going any further
Good draw, tipp not a blanket defence team and will be rearing to have a go at us in their own turf.
Rochford so cautious, he is unlikely to give many bench players a run, and where are we with full back line?
Should be a decent test, a game we definitely can look forward to..
Interestingly the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick is 137 meters by 82 metres. Semple stadium is 145 metres by 90 metres.
That is a massive difference. There is 16% more space to operate in in Semple.
With that big pitch I would be brave and stick with the pace of Cian Hanley and James Durcan.
Yes it is a risk in terms of not being our first choice Croke park 15, but we do need to make the super 8’s with our main players fresh and better bench options than we have had.
If you ignore the individuals and just go on what these new players are bringing to the table, the one thing that stands out is tremendous pace. That could potentially be a game changer for us.
Springing Cian Hanley, James Durcan and Donal Vaughan in the late summer as a lift in athleticism to be on top in that aspect late in games might be something that is a potentiall title winning advantage. It’s the fact that you’d be springing three such athletic players, not like we have had where we simply did not have any pace to bring in.
You would expect Mayo to win this by 6 or more points. Only worry would be conceding 3 goals against a very poor Limerick so the Mayo defence will have to be on guard against a far better class of forwards.
The good news is that we have 2 weeks to prepare for Tipp so fitness shouldn’t be an issue. We’ll actually be further along in our fitness and now we have a good win under our belts going into it. Tipp will be doubting themselves on the back of that Cork hammering and as Willie Joe said earlier Tipp would have been praying to avoid us too. The other side of the coin is that with their hurlers out of the championship they’ll have the whole county behind them. They have fine forwards and could see this as a real chance to take one of the big scalps. From what I’ve seen this past too years they seemed to have regressed a little and there is a sizeable element in Tipp who see the footballers as a hindrance to the hurlers (resources etc.). We have to respect them absolutely and be clinical on the scoreboard.
Quinlivan and Sweeney are quality. However, I’d be suspect about their defence. Diarmuid could thrive with his running game against a defence like this and he will surely come in for Hanley or Durcan. Can’t see rochford starting Crowe given that he didn’t even get a run the last day. Quinlivan and caff are very similar builds but you’d worry about caff marking him in a game like this.
Honestly, can we never make ourselves favourites?
We are miles better than Tipp. We will win.
I’m pretty sure Crowe came on the last day, did he not? Or was that a dream!?
Real key would be to start well and not let them get a foothold in the game.
I would start Hanley and JDurcan again.
we will need some of these fellas to come through if we’re to have any aspirations of contending this year. Also better to bring experience in during the match if things not going well rather than bringing on inexperienced lads
From my point of view there is no way it can be argued that Cafferkey should be in the team or coming off the bench based on his performances over the last couple of years i would put Regan in this category also.
We have struggled with worse than Tipp in qualifiers. Saying that i think we will win.
How long is BH expected to be out for?
But realistically Pat the only close call was Derry, and that was only because we managed to kick nearly 20 wides that day! Every other qualifier over the past 3 years we have won it comfortably. Maybe some poor performances, but comfortable winners.
Cork bet them handy after disgraceful 6 day turnaround. They are not as bad as that.
Need either Crowe or Caff playing for height.
We should be able to beat Tipp if we have AI ambition but they will fight hard make no mistake.
Clarke
Barret
Crowe
ODonoghue
Higgins
Durcan
Boyle
Keegan
SOS
DOC
Hanley
Doherty
AOS
JDurcan
COC
Moran
I would argue cork last year was a fairly close call?
Well said Mayo Mark
I don’t buy a lot of this fake pessimism before every game tbh
Some of it reeks of political correctness
We are much better than Tipp footballers
We will win
Actually I forgot about Cork JC! Yeah, that was definitely a close call.
But I would argue Cork, despite their recent form, are still Cork, and a much tougher prospect than any other qualifier we have met to date.
WJ, I for one have a furrowed brow and it’s not really because it’s Tipp. But you said it yourself: ‘tuned in properly’. This is the problem, ask any of the hurling teams that had to be tuned in for 4 games in a row – mental fatigue is a bigger issue than physical, and that’s why a gimme like Leitrim or Waterford would have been ideal. But Tipp are extremely dangerous and will require a full tuned in team. Then they have to repeat same again for 3 more weekends (we can lose 2nd game of super 8s and still progress!)
The reason why people are a little ‘pessimistic’ is because we have been very erratic this season and there is a tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot at key moments (Diarmaid v Galway and Vaughan in the AIF). So it’s not fake and it’s not political correctness. Would you bet your entire house on Mayo beating Tipp Km79?
That’s a cunning plan you have there centre field but will they spot that we’re playing 16 player!!?
@MayoMark was nothing comfortably about the Fermanagh game two years ago and another ref wouldn’t have given that penalty IMO which was a major turning point in the game.
@centrefield “if we can’t beat them then no business going any further” Mayo won’t be going any further if beaten!
Big pitch that should suit us, support that should make it a home game (think that sea of green and red on the Ennis road last Saturday), and a further two weeks of training/conditioning all add up to a few pluses for us. Don’t forget either that Tipp are a loser going into this one against a winner. I think all winners last Saturday have a psychological edge against losing semi finalists.
We’re talking about Quinlevan, but Kearns will be targeting Cillian big time. 3-9 will make any manager focus on a player. They’ll try to rile him and that will need discipline. They’ll try to rile all Mayo’s players, feeling hard done by over that black card in the semi final in ’16, so we need to be on red alert. But also, we need aggression, legitimate aggression.
Gonna miss this one, and the next, if. My strategy of planning hols around a Connacht final appearance unravelled fairly quickly, so I’ll be following from Northern Spain.
We were in absolute control of that Fermanagh game Mayomagic. Penalty or not we were winning that game. We were completely on top and they scored 1 point in the whole second half!
I did the same Catcol but am not flying till the Sunday so should be ok !
Would miss rounds 3&4 though
Yeah, I defo dont see this as pessimism…the facts are that we have not played well this year, at all. We were average in getting the draw in donegal, average in kildare and the win in monaghan was probably our best day but apart from that we were grim. We weren’t great against galway regardless of being with 14 men, we had nothing up front and before andy came on the last day we were only 6 points up against a bottom of the table division 4 side…i think it was 2-6 to 2-12/13 at one point? Hardly inspiring. Then last year we stumbled over the line against derry, came from 6 points down against clare who missed a glorious goal chance when they had that lead and then scrapped past cork. We really rode our luck in the qualifiers last year. This Mayo team for the past 2 years are very much hot and cold. We were hot when we embarrassed the rossies in croker but cold or luke warm at best in the games preceding that. We turned it on against kerry and in the final we played well for most of it. Therefore, while we should win and have the better players etc, our performances are very patchy. Like Gamechanger said, we should win BUT he would not be at all surprised if tipp beat us. Thankfully, I believe Roch and the players will be fully aware of the threat Tipperary pose and there’ll be no complacency. If we play well we win, but if we are off the boil like we were this time last year then we could easily be caught and then suddenly, that’s that.
If we can’t beat Tipp then we might as well pack it up and hand them the game. Yeah it’s a good step up from Limerick, team we must study and respect but not fear like some on here. With the right preparation, focus, intensity and discipline we will win this by 8 or more.
Lot of aggression here towards anyone who doesn’t say Mayo will cruise the game. Fans are allowed to see beyond faith you know.
Pessimism or realism? Fans will have concerns because last year wasn’t glorious. In reality we struggled v Derry, close against cork, very poor in game one v Roscommon and moments away from defeat against Kerry in first game.
Therefore wouldn’t say political correctness is the root of supporters comments, perhaps just caution. We do have the better players and we should win. It would take a very poor mayo performance and something special from Tipp to win but still we should accept a range of optimism and caution from supporters, doesn’t make them any less of a supporter
Time to spring Big Bird as sweeper again.
Happy we didn’t draw Monaghan but in all honesty I’d be fairly confident we have the goods to turn Tipp over on the day. Obviously we can’t be complacent, but as far as I know they’ve lost a few key players to the US for the summer. Bear in mind also we beat them in 2016 in a Semi Final and we didn’t play well that day, and no amount of whinging by Tom “Tommy” Tom Tom Carr about some lad being sent off early on a deserved black card was going to allow that result to be different. Not sure what time Tom Tommy Tom Tom thinks its OK to start applying the rules from but there we have it. They pretty much got every call from then on that day and we still won playing poorly. In this years league they won 3 in the league vs our 2, ending up fourth in Division 2 behind Cavan, Roscommon and Clare.
Sure, we have to play it right and get our match ups right, and our shot selection needs to be on song, but we’re 2 weeks out from the game and have plenty of time to prepare for it. The group from the Panel that are in College will have finished their exams by now so a large chunk of the panel will be concentrating on their football. Of course the same can be said for Tipp too, no doubt, but when you have lads like the 2 Durcans, Diarmuid, Coen, Loftus to name a few all having finished their exams along side a few others who are on the panel, that can only help.
Cillian and Andy scoring goals and showing how well they can link up will only improve confidence too.
Of course it’s a potential banana skin. But that can be said for every game and every opponent.
Unfortunately I didn’t see anything other than the highlights of the game vs Limerick, but if someone who’s not considered a Marquee forward can score 3 goals and 9 points (3 of each from play) then all we can hope for is that he carries some of that scoring form into the next few games. We do need some of the other forwards (aside maybe from Andy) to become a little more prolific than they are now too mind.
Hoping to make it to Thurles for the next game anyways. Certainly hoping there will be a few more to go to this year after that as well.
Game on Saturday 23rd at 5pm, will be shown on live on Sky.
It’s just been confirmed, ( via Mayo GAA Twitter), that our game with Tipperary throws in at 5pm on the 23rd. It’s live on Sky as well for those that can’t travel.
Political correctiness me foot, we’ve played like dog shit for at least 6 of our 9 games this year. Every1 knows we dont get rightly motoring until late July at least, after a couple of months COLLECTIVE training. I’d deem Tipp a far better outfit than Fermanagh, yet Fermanagh dumped a top ranked DIV 1 side last Sunday. The Tourmakeady U16’s would give limerick a rattle, that game is no barometer. Those of us who are nervous about this 1 have every right to be, its not a syndrome of any sort. If we’re not fully tuned in here we are gone,, Fermanagh, Derry, Cork, Roscommon, are all examples of us not fully focused,, we won’t be so lucky in Thurles if they get a run on us.
I am actually gonna back Ross to beat Galway in the Hyde Sunday. From what I hear there flying at the moment.They Pushed Dublin close in a challenge game and bet Cork .I see Walsh using the blanket instead of going out attacking Ross and I think McStay will have Ross ready for this.They have there eye on this game all year.Remember Galway found it awful hard put us away with an extra man minus Tom Parsons and Leeroy and Cillian only played 20 mins!!
Well a mate of mine flew over from London for the game, and he’s was very impressed with Mayo, He said the hunger is back, and that they are coming along nicely, fitness wise, and when they are all fully fit, he reckons they could well go all the way.The raw material is there, regarding the newbies, That’s his take on things anyway. I was delighted to hear all the positives, its up to management now to get the match ups right, and im sure they will, Going to meet him for a few cold ones later, and pick his brains a bit more, Maybe even have a little wager on our mighty men, let’s hope he’s right, and Up Mayo.
@LarryDuff and@JimGlag I was watching the draw on the RTE website;
Tom Parsons drew a ball from one pot (Tom was drawing from the pot of red 1 winners so drew Mayo) and it was placed into a third bowl the President then drew a ball from the other pot (Tipp) and it too was placed into the 3rd bowl.
Tipp was then drawn first from this bowl and then Mayo
I wonder is Fergal boland in the picture now. He is a player I feel could be very useful against a blanket defence – can thread passes through bodies to men 30m away. I feel he has more to offer than the likes of Regan or Kirby
Was your mate impressed with limerick getting a score of 16 against us ? Bit of a concern?
The mantra that “sure if we don’t beat Tipp we might as well forget about it” is flawed and anyone who says that has no clue about football.
Look at all the near escapes we had last year against lower opposition and we ended up losing the final by a point. Tyrone were very lucky sat eve.
Tipp are unlucky not to be playing division 1 next year and if they find their form will be very dangerous. Our ability to let in goals added to tipps ability to score goals makes this a very dangerous game. Mayo will need to be at the races to win this one.
With all due respect Tipp will be beaten,I believe we are still the closest to Dublin as does Billy Keane who felt we are playing a different type of game this year,we will improve up Mayo
Something that’s not clear to my eyes but maybe someone can clear it up. For cillians first goal the ball was played in long, he went for it with 2 limerick defenders, does anyone know how the ball popped up and into his teammates hands, that teammate gave the pass back before cillian hit the net.
Did cillian do some sort of heel flick or did a limerick player hit the ball ?
If it was the former, it was some serious bit of skill.
Cillain flicked it to him with his foot
Magnificent!!!
Has have confirmed times for game.
Tipperary v Mayo, Semple Stadium, 5pm, LIVE ON SKY SPORTS Saturday the 23rd.
Anybody have any idea how far away Harrison and Vaughan are from full fitness, 2 weeks 4 weeks ?
the big question is do i enjoy the aftermath of our game by watching kerry and cork or germany and sweden? 🙂
if we lose i’ll have no interest in GAA for the rest of the year anyway !
Hell’s bells Dave, I hadn’t even noticed and just looked back. Outrageous skill!!
I’m not too worried about Tipp. I think we will beat them easily if we produce anything like what we are capable of. What I want to see is an improved performance all round particularly from our attack despite scoring 5:19 against Limerick. I want too see some of the young guns (Hanley, Durkan, Coen etc) making a big impression. I like the cut of Cian Hanley and I feel he will become a very big player for us in the near future. He is a bit raw yet but he has a lot going for him.
I would also like to see Lee and Aidan at midfield with Diarmuid as a third midfielder and Cillian at CHF.
My team would be:
Clarke
O Donoghue
Harrison if fit (Crowe)
Higgins
Boyle
Barrett
Durkan
AOS
Keegan
Diarmuid O C
McLoughlin
Cillian
Cian Hanley
Jason Doherty
Andy Moran
This team would give us huge mobility at midfield, real danger up front and decent defence. Stephen Chen looses out but I would have no problem with him in defence. With himself, Vaughan, Durkan, Loftus etc we have decent cover.
What it also gives us is a potentially major change in the way we attack. Keegan and Diarmuid racing through the middle and linking up with Cillian and Andy would send shivers through most backlines with Hanley and McLoughlin giving us great options to attack down the wings. Aidan is a great player but he is not a natural forward. His move to MF will improve midfield and our forwards.
Galway won’t get caught this year v the Rossies, they will win comfortably, I reckon 5 – 10 points. Some things in life are certain, Brazil, Germany, France and Argentina / Spain to make the World Cup semi finals.
Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, maybe Mayo / Cork / Monaghan to make up this years semi’s.
The odd fairytale does occur in sport, but not very often in the World Cup and where the feckin Dubs are concerned, though I believe Diarmuid Connollys loss will be a big factor later on in the Summer.
Tougher draw than I wanted but the way I look at it Galway are a better team than Tipperary we almost & should have beaten them, which will be 6 weeks by the time we play Tipp, so that’s 6 extra weeks of fitness game plans playing together and more importantly SHARPNESS Mayo by 6 🙂
That has the look of a decent team Diehard. Not sure what Seamie has done to deserve to be left out. A good man to have on the bench if needed mind.
I cannot believe people think this is a hard draw.Sure Tipp are fine but not realistic contenders as we should and will be.
They will focus us in and this is what we need.I actually was worried we would get a soft game and be caught cold in round 3. Didn’t see any evidence of lads giving up early on Saturday. Plenty of competition for places and that is what we need.
Trip to Tipp is on.
When you have Andy and Cillian near to each other upfront you have a fierce amount of football intelligence to get your forwards moving.
What Cillian and Andy need is there being a dual threat of pacey runners like the Durcans, Cian Hanley, Diarmuid and Kevin McLoughlin.
How much is Cillian now behind our best ever footballer Cora in the scoring stakes?
I normally get agitated by pessimism but Fermanagh have shown there’s no room for complacency.
As for our performances I think May vs Galway was miles ahead of March and my guess is Mayo well ahead this year over previous 2 as we had to target early May. Galway are a decent team who are hard to break down especially on a tight pitch. Playing with 14 men for 35+ mins cost us the game. Cillian was just back that day whereas now he looks good. I think training wise we should be clicking nicely into gear, just to get teamwork and match ups right. Thurles is a great venue and big pitch.
Mayo rightly strong favourites with bookies but as we can see not raging hot. Avoid complacency and get match ups right. I have a feeling we’ll get both of those things right.
Lookin forward to going match next week I missed Limerick as I was in dublin up Mayo hope weather is nice
Welcome back Cait
Haven’t seen you on here in a while
I didn’t cause I reading the post s on here to be honest mind you Tyrone got a handy draw didn’t they.
It’s a long way to Tipperary
It’s a long way to go
But we don’t care about the mileage
Because we’re goin to see Mayo
Goodbye to Bohola
Farewell Ballindine
Tipp will do.their.best to try and beat us
But our lads will be fine.
Hi Cait we are on a trip to Tipp I was in Limerick and i was impressed with the speed and fitness of this Mayo team and i liked the calls of the Management mixing it up with youth and established players
Well done Mayo
Surly Conor O shea will come into the reckoning for a starting place for the Tipperary game because he scored the winning goal in the 2016 all ireland semi final against Tipperary.
Turfmanmayo – you must be smoking turf it that’s your analysis.
Jason Doherty also scored a goal against Tipperary in that case Turfmanmayo… And definitely should start, Barry Moran has to play in front of Sweeney and Quinlivan, sure look the old matchprogramme of 2016 would do, and save. the GAA printing money. Send back Cian Hanley to Australia while your at it!.. Or We could start whoever was playing well the last year the Pope came to Knock, 1979…
Knowing Tipperary fairly well over a long number of years I can say that only a minority of Tipp fans have any interest in football and as many would hate to see Tipp football making any progress. A win over Mayo would not be seen with any joy by most Tipp hurling fans. Don’t expect to see a big Tipp crowd in Semple even though Tipp are out of the hurling.
Sorry there Turfmanmayo I went a bit over the top with my analysis of your comment…. Andy D, I can’t say how many Tipperary fans will turn up, but Tipperary certainly brought plenty to the All Ireland Semifinal two years ago!
Leantimes I’m entitled to my opinion. Im only saying people around Mayo today are wondering will Lee Keegan go into full back and take up Micheal Quinlivan like he did in 2016. Lee did the job on him. Kept him quiet. Im saying Conor o shea scored the winning goal that day against Tipperary. He has a proven record against Tipp. Other Mayo forwards don’t.
I just think It might be a gamble starting Cian Hanley or James Durcan ( even though both impressed me against limerick) they haven’t played a team as good as Tipperary yet While Conor O shea has that experience and the scoring record to prove it against tipp.
It’s going to be very difficult to call what team will line out the next day. I’ve a feeling Rochford will go for experience over youth especially in defence.. so rightly or wrongly I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Caff start and O’Donoghue sitting on the bench with Barrett and Coen dropping back and Diarmuid moving to midfield. Leeroy to start but can’t see both Duran and Hanley starting together.. so one of them to loose out. I’m bemused when people ask how long Harrison and Vaughan will be out for?… sure who knows!!.. it’s not public knowledge and won’t be until Rochford decides it is. And even if people do know, do you really expect to find them talking about it here?
I am putting this out ! Is anyone from the Mayo County Board going to present the Pope with a Mayo Jersey when he lands at Knock Airport?
If Rochford was to keep going for experience over youth then the youth will never become experienced. The youth did well in the gaelic Grounds.
I would let them out again against Tip.
The Pope is coming to Knock
Pope Francis is a visionary
This Mayo team will begin to rock
When they meet Tipperary
One game at a time lads and lassies. “A day for catch and kick, head down amd plough on” quote from my favourite Mayo man in Tipperary.
The league should have been used to try some young lads out and then they would have been more up to speed to contribute now . The league preparations were poor and gave no support to where we are at now. Rochford understandably now wants a shot at all Ireland so will probably stick to experience from now on in this season, however long term the development of new and young players is not really happening for the future
Need to keep Andy and Cillian as close to goal as possible – major goal threat (we knew this but highlighted last day) – should not be seen deeper than our 45.
Any tickets yet for the game in Tipp
JC. Dublin will only love if we stick with experience if we get that far.
We have to change things up to win Sam. The last 6 or 7 years have showed us that.
If we stick with youth and they do well then the likes of a Dublin would not be sure of which Mayo to expect in a final or semi final.
If we stick with experience Dublin will know exactly what’s coming at them.
Leantimes there were quite Tipp fans at the semifinal in 2016, but there was a good deal on tickets for both hurling and football games semi finals were involved in – I know this as I bought a few myself – worked out at 140 euros for 2 adult and 2 juvenile tickets, worked out at something like 20 euros more for an adult to add on the football ticket if they were already planning to go to the hurling.
And I also remember the tipp fans despite being heavily outnumbered being very vocal that day, more so than us.
Give them a chance to print them James.
Yes – Revellino, I agree, I want us to inject some youth as I feel we need to mix it up a bit and that there is youth there that can make a big impact on squad. I didn’t say he should stick to the experience.
I was suggesting however that some of this youth should have been used in league to give them experience and that I don’t think Rochford will use them now as the games get harder . I hope he does mix it up however and hopefully I am wrong.
Irish Examiner has updates on Vaughan and Harrison. Donie resumed light training last week from a groin injury and is expected to be available in 2 weeks. Harrison has a knee injury apparently, and is still a month away from playing.
I agree that it would be nice to have had the youth in earlier.
Hanley though and Durkan just arrived on the scene. Regan was injured.
O’donoghue Crowe and Coen have had fair runs.
Nally was only on for minutes on Saturday and got his hands on the ball several times.
We have to make a significant improvement on the past 2 years. At any rate we have to improve to win Sam but our improvement must be big enough to compensate for the loss of Tom.
I think we can improve on the last 2 years but that will only happen with the new blood.
Last year’s AI final was the greatest display I have ever seen from a Mayo team. We need to get up just 1 more rung on the ladder.
Billy Joe Padden up next on Newstalk to discuss Saturdays game.
Adam Gallagher got a few games in the league (Monaghan, Dublin, possibly more) Akram played a few times too.
Plenty more for a chance to lay claim to a jersey in the FBD but didn’t probably do enough to warrant the place of someone else on the panel.
All very well suggesting we try more youth than we have already, but they need to be as good if not better than the player they are replacing if we are to challenge for Sam.
Yes- agreed new blood needed to take team further , not just for this year but also for future years too as some of these top players we have cannot keep up this physical and mental preparations forever
It’s the dog chasing his tail Fdb. The likes of Durkan and Hanley can only improve with game time. I agree the best team will be needed to win Sam and something different than what we have had in the past few years.
I see that the bookies have us at 14 to1 for Sam we were 10 to 1 last Saturday morning. Think about it. Limerick were very poor. We conceded 3.7. Some of our lads lacked pace. our passing was shocking. We have lots of room for improvement. We surely will beat tipp and the round 3 game but Dare I say it. Cork in round 4
Most likely possible opponents in round 3 (barring upsets, which there probably will be)
Monaghan
Cavan
Tyrone
Offaly/Clare (too close to call)
Kildare
Armagh
Louth
Round 4
Roscommon
Laois
Fermanagh
Cork
If you believe in a young player then you give them time. Not one or two games and then whip them out of team again. If we want to embed players then you put them in no pressure games and keep them heavily involved, not pulling them on and out with no plan to fully build them into team
1.David Clarke
2.Eoin O’Donoghue
3.Lee Keegan
4.Keith Higgins
5.Colm Boyle
6.Chris Barrett
7.Paddy Durcan
8.Seamie O’Shea
9.Shane Nally
10.Kevin McLoughlin
11.Aidan O’Shea
12.Diarmuid o’Connor
13.Jason Doherty
14 Cillian O’Connor
15.Andy Moran
The bookies will nearly have the Dubs at very short odds, thats the nature of their game, population etc.
Its funny how this particular thread has developed since the draw was made this morning, the first few comments mentioned that it was a tough draw, they seemed to nervous / afraid, but as the morning went on people were more upbeat. Thats a fear in itself, nearly hoping to get the worst possible team oit of the hat.
One thing is certain this Mayo team will improve as we get closer to August, I would like the management to try and mix things up a little, ie, not be too predictable with the team selections and give a bit more time to the fringe players, maybe start guys like Nally, Boland, Drake, Barry Moran, and rest some of the seasoned campaigners, bring them in if needed.
Michael in Cork… I taught most of our passing was excellent, the 3 new boys, James Durcan, Evan Regan and Cian Hanley, showed plenty of pace, pace that to honesty we lacked a little of previously… Maybe the bookies have seen that we got the second hardest draw possible, Tipperary away, might have something to do with our odds for the All Ireland drifting… But we do have room for improvement…. If our 3 speedster that started on Saturday, get another chance, you will find that they are just a little bit better coordinated, they have never played together before in a competitive match… That said it’s going to be very hard not to play the current Player of the year, Andy Moran, likewise it will be difficult to leave Jason Doherty out,.. And Diarmuid O’Connor, but Diarmuid might just get a midfield berth… Then again it, after Stephen Coen fine performance last Saturday, it will be hard to leave Stephen out as well… These are the problems that a manager likes to have, a multiple of viable options… It also keeps the opposition guessing…. But he now has these options because he started, James Durcan, Cian Hanley and Evan Regan, (all who were a qualified success) last Saturday…. It’s a shame that, Vaughan and Harrison are not currently at full fitness.. Then we would have serious options in defence…. But Lee is back, Crowe is available and Drake…. It’s a hell of a panel when you come to think of it… But from now on, If we are to progress??. We will need them all!
I think cian hanley and James Durcan should both start against tipp, it’s not in a tight semi or super8 game that you want to see if they are able to dig us out of a spot, it’s against a team that you know you have a good chance of beating. Put them on.
Maurice Deegan will be the ref !
I think cork could Kerry a game of it I remember last year nearly downed us last year. I don’t like bookies writing them
Ah Maurice Deegan… the gift that keeps on giving!!
Cork and Donegal won’t be far away this year.
If we use the right players and tactics we should be too good for Tipp.
I agree with the many posters who say give the new lads their chance.
And keep Killian close to goal.
Bring on the heavies when appropriate.
And give Nally his chance. Better late than never.
I do not mean late in the game.
Give him a fair run at it,
which should have been done long ago.
6 to 1 to reach final. if i were picking a bet for Mayo that would be the one
we’ve been in 4 of the last 6 finals.
8 of the last 22.
“Past performance is no guarantee of future results” and all of that.
What would really bother me now is how threadbare we’re getting around the middle if anything happens to AOS or SOS we are going to have a serious lack of height with BMoran seemingly not in the mix
AMC , If Deegan is the Ref we should refuse to play, this Donkey is not capable of reffing an under 6 Nursery match, he is a disgrace to officialdom in the GAA, Did you see how he appropriately ‘turned a blind eye’ to the Johhny Cooper high tackle yesterday in Croke Park. Word is that Johhny cannot be sent off now that his fellow clubman is the new GAA President…
Deegan is a Donkey and hope he is reading this, an absolute joke of a ref..
Coen has been present in most Mayo selections over the last couple of years, how come no one rates him at all and puts him in there predicted Mayo line ups. Just wondering ?
The Tipp support at the semi-final two years ago was pretty impressive I thought (possibly due to the bounce from beating Galway in the quarters) and I would expect similar the next day. Semple is sacred ground for them so don’t expect to have the place all to ourselves and especially with the hurlers gone. I should probably know, being married to a Tipp woman.
My youngest was very diplomatic when asked who he would be supporting by saying he’d wear a Tipp jersey and a Mayo hat. You have to keep your options open, after all!
Beat route to Thurles is down to Limerick and take the M7 and ten off at Neneagh across to Thurles. Prob the same amount of time if you choose Loughrea – Portumna but better roads
Dhá rud.
In my book turning point in the Fermanagh game was the reaction of the (up to then silent) majority to the booing at half time. A bit of energy from our 16th.
I’m sure the pitch will be lined to suit the home team…
Ahhhhh now I see why the bookies drifted us out to 14/1, they obviously had the inside knowledge that Maurice (cant stop rubbing players) Deegan is reffing it. Im even more nervous now tbh. The time for blooding players is in the league, Rochie missed that with Hanley and Durcan. I want Andy, Lee, Diarmuid and Doc starting this one….I get what posters are saying about progressing the panel, but we’ve no more lives left this season. Start the big guns, break Tipps spirit as early as possible, then bring them on for 15mins or so. A
You right Thomas. Coen and Reegan showed very well for the ball on Saturday. I think some people judge players on what their hearing and reading and not on what their looking at. The newer lads did very well and put in a good case for inclusion for the Tipp game.
As some have mentioned there were plenty of Tipp fans at the semi final in 2016 and they were much louder than us aswell on the day.
This game is set up for Tipp
They are a wounded animal after Cork game
They are a very good team,arguably in the top 10,certainly top 12 the last few years.
They know how to win and this team were very successful all the way along at underage,that team should be coming into their prime now.
They feel a (unjustified) but real sense of grievance after our last meeting.
I’m not being fatalistic but just genuinely worried
Jesus,just saw that deegan is reffing aswell…
Are ye serious? Deegan. Shoot me now.
Be ready for ‘Tipp Tipp Tipp Tipp Tipp ……..’ incessantly. Did they throw in the Icelandic clap or something too?! The noise they made was impressive anyway.
Nightmare set up for tonight.
I disagree with the give new lads a chance. I totally agreed with doing it vs Limerick who are ranked similar to Leitrim. If we didn’t experiment that game when would we? Tipp are 2 divisions up from Limerick so pick the 15 doing best in training and if we can get a good gap sometime in 2nd half throw several on. Nally has been unlucky and would like to see him in midfield but with Coen playing well in most people’s estimation he may miss out again. Rochford has to balance making sure we make round 3 with giving youth a chance. No point rookies starting and even doing fairly well if we end up losing. Cody always picked best 15 from training. Davey Fitz sprung rookie Shane O Donnell in AI final because he absolutely flying in training.
Leave it to management now folk’s the best has yet to come.
Even though it can be described as a tricky draw it also a good draw.
Another game on a quality hurling pitch where the grass be cut very short.
Durcan and Hanley deserve to start again.Durcan has great pace shows very well for the ball.def can improve on shooting but he a good player.i thought Hanley was good the last day to also great pace.
Onwards and upwards these games are about getting to the next round that it.limit the injuries and suspensions a bonus.
Andy in for Regan and Crowe in for Ger Caff. Possibly Leeroy in for EO’D.
I’d stick with the same team other than that. Make changes at half time if we’re in trouble.
That rare creature.
I have invited David Attenborough to accompany me deep in to the foothills of Tipperary to observe one of the rarest species known to mankind.
The flute with the whistle in his mouth.
David has excitedly accepted my offer. He has never clapped eyes on the mysterious flute and reliably informs me, it is the only known creature on this earth that can survive without a brain.
While teams of termites battle on predetermined areas of land to display their dominance, the brainless flute can be observed running mindlessly over and back, unable to make a rational decision, with of course his trusty whistle locked between his lips.
The simple creature through his own confusion sometimes puts on a yellow display when unsure of his surroundings. This changes to a black display when the mindless creature attempts to display his own dominance. If poked with a stick the fool of the animal kingdom puts on a red display.
The flute himself owes his survival to other mindless flutes higher up the flute chain, who indoctrinate this thoughtless creature with a sense of authority by sticking a whistle in to its gob.
After causing catastrophic damage with his whistle on the field of battle, the hapless flute is usually escorted to safety by good natured drones.
So it’s with great excitement that David and myself travel to Tipperary in 2 weeks time to observe this flute. On its rare previous sightings the flute with the whistle in his mouth has always shown his brainless inability to comprehend anything. We’re sure he will not dissapointed this time either.
Several have commented on the fact that James Durcan and Cian Hanley didn’t get game time during the league…. Well Evan Regan got some game time versus Kerry, and that ended his league… To be fair to Stephen Rochford, the league game’s by & large did not give either Durcan or Hanley the best opportunity of playing…. Both players have exceptional pace, but the pitch in Castlebar was in terrible condition for the spring and definitely wouldn’t have suited either for a debut… So many of our match’s were real physical and sometimes cynical… Monaghan ended up with 12 players on the pitch,.. Remember Galway in Salthill, Physical and very cynical, and the Galway Shawl, hardly the place to for either… Remember Tyrone, Cynical and another Shawl… Kerry very Cynical and certainly it didn’t do a similar type player to James Durcan any good, Evan Regan… Against Donegal we desperately needed a point, not a good idea to give fellows their debut… Against Dublin we played a blanket (probably because Stephen Rochford wanted to keep the score difference to a minimum, in the belief that scoring difference might be the difference between staying up and demotion, and this seneraio could easily have happened) Only versus Kildare, in a sporting match on a good pitch and a fine day, would have been suitable for giving either their debut… While many have commented negatively about the lack of game time for either, I think many more might be critizing Stephen Rochford if either had started in 6 out of the 7 league match’s we played… Other players were better suited to those occasions, horse’s for courses… And even though we didn’t do well in the league, and indeed were lucky to stay up… It’s a call that Steven Rochford and Co got right in my opinion…. I know several will disagree with me!
If we leave players out on basis that game might be cynical then they never experience how to deal with that side of the game. If we progress to later stages this year then there will be plenty of cynical games and moments ahead , it’s part of what comes from high intensity games so if these boys are going to contribute to team then they need experience of that aspect of the game too. Better to experience it in February for first time than in August in a all Ireland semi final . I am not talking about Durcan or Hanley, it’s about any players that you intend to develop into the team. Look at Kerry with Clifford, they know he is going to be their future so he is being developed, in league and championship, no fear that he may come across a bit of cynicism etc because it’s part of the development
There’s a interview up online with Tom Parsons done after the draw yesterday with rte Darren freyeill . Saying how much the welcome he got Saturday settled him. Great representative of his club and county and the sport in general. Don’t know how to do links but a quick Google should find it.
Thanks, Richie – that interview is here.
Holy jesus Turfmanmayo COS is a good down the pecking order. Basing he should be there from one goal against Tipp two years ago is nonsense.
Being honest I felt the 4 goals in the last ten minutes certainly made us look better than the performance produced.in Limerick.
Id be still worried about full back although Ger Caff had his best game in years, In midfield we have issues with mobility. AOS was caught out on several occasions against Limerick on the back foot. Against better opposition we will get punished.
Hanley looks very raw, was the right call by Rochy to give him the game last week but he was turned over very easily a few times and doesn’t look up to it just yet. Give him time and i’m sure he will be a huge player for us. Just not this summer. Would bring in Diarmuid and Andy for the two boys the next day, Durcan could be used as an impact sub with his pace.
I think tipp is a good draw for us. They play an open style of football. In a big pitch which should suit us. If we can’t beat them then we are simply aren’t good enough.
@Clubman51, I thought the match played out like a boxing match where one opponent has a clear advantage and is simply biding their time till later rounds. Once we decided to launch into them it was system collapse.
I believe that could have been done earlier if they wanted to. Of course, there is an element that a division 4 side would indeed start to fall off the pace badly after the 60th minute, so that was part of it too. In Gaelic Football unlike soccer once you fall a few % off the fitness of the opposition it makes a big difference to the scoreboard.
Good win against Limerick, delighted with Cillian’s performance. Tipperary very tricky game, they were the highest scorers in Division Two, they would have beaten Cork if Conor Sweeney was fit (he played but was ineffective as a result of carrying an injury), they were favourites to beat Cork and may as a result have underestimated them. Steven O Brien is a big addition to their forwards ( he was with the hurlers in 2016 and only returned this year). Major improvement needed from Our Team the next day. I would put Diarmuid in midfield the next day, he offers pace, workrate and can score, Steven kicked two bad wides the last day and tends to give ball away when hand passing, which would be fatal against the Tipp forwards. Big VOCAL Mayo support needed in Semple Stadium, if we are to get over this big challenge.
Tickets are now on sale for this game through the usual channels, they cost 15 euro for adults and 5 euro for children. As far as I know, season ticket holders will cost 10 euro. Seating is once again reserved in the stands and neither of the terraces will be open.
Take your point JP about the boxing match analogy.
However, beforehand, I expected Mayo to brush Limerick aside in the physical aspects of the game and do as they pleased, which might mean sloppy finishing at times, but it would be on our terms.
Limerick surprised me by matching Mayo in many departments. They broke ball – what did we catch around the middle? They broke up a number of Mayo attacks particularly in the third quarter. In that quarter, by my estimation, they had about 6 attempts on goal from well worked positions. Two attempts hit the post, and the others were harmless. But the point is they got themselves into shooting positions. Their number 5 burned us constantly with runs – the first one led directly to the penalty, whatever about its legitimacy. For a minute or two in that quarter, some bad thoughts entered my mind.
And to continue accentuating the negative, which I normally don’t do, what would we have scored without Cillian or Andy? Don’t think others would have chipped in the remaining scores. But, prove me wrong here!
We got burned by the Cork wing back in Limerick as well last year.
Just on Midwest now that Maurice deegan is the referee.
Happy days!
Some mentioned tipp felt aggrieved after the semi in 2016. I’ve heard that too from some tipp people. Their centre back was black carded and that was a major blow. Tipp will be so up for this game. Its perfectly set up for them with no pressure, no expectations.
This is going to be real mental test for Mayo. If management and more importantly players are totally focused then we should win but if we are even an inch off, we’ll be caught. The warnings are clear. And deegan reffing, he’ll do his best to level things out. Completely unpredictable.
This is a game for Doherty to start. Remember the amount of ball he won against cork last year? Last Saturday his impact was immediate. He has strength, pace, maturity and can score. For me, him starting is a no brainer.
I also think nally is a very strong option for us in the middle third where we are light.
I would have McLoughlin sweeping for this/him or Higgins. Snuff out the tipp goal threat and hit them on speedy counters. And 100% keep Andy and Cillian inside the opposition 35 yards at all times!
Can anyone make out if cillian did a Dennis bergkamp like flick for his goal? I’ve watched it a few times but can’t confirm. if he did then it was sublime!!!
Way out west – seating is unreserved.
Sorry Done Deal, yes seating is unreserved, my mistake.
@Simmayo… ‘Cillianco:… The perfect backheel flick…. The first part of the perfect ‘One Two’ …. Christiano Ronaldo is now practising it, Messi and Neymar as well… You might see the ‘Cillianco’ attempted a few times a the World Cup… They will do well to pull it off!
Stephen Coen will continue in midfield. This is because of all the midfield options he is the best defender and this is the most unheralded aspect of Tom Parsons game which must be replaced. Unfortunately Coen is not as good going forward as Tom but there’s simply is no replacing all parts of Toms game. I would hope that Keegan and Durcan are given more freedom to attack with Coen sitting back.
NiallMc1983 – agree with what you say re Tom, am wondering if Diarmuid is the most suitable candidate for replacement there?. Either Jason or one of the newbies (J Durcan or Hanley) could pick up Diarmuid’s usual role.
If Cillian did what he appears to have done right before his first goal, then I think we have seen the “play of the year” already.
It’s not clear if he back heeled it or a limerick man just hit it but it came out very nicely to Evan Regan who then laid it off to the scorer in chief for his goal. Limericks goal from play was a very well taken goal too, I think we must remember that even these “ weaker “ counties have some very skilled players in their ranks, just not enough of them. Tipp are an example of what can happen when you unearth a few really talented forwards, they don’t need to defend en mass and keep it low scoring because they know they can score plenty themselves, that’s why Mayo should expect an open game and to definitely not take tipp for granted. This game is one Mayo should win but it also has “ upset victory” written all over it. Tipp should be a division 1 team for 2019, any other team at their level but with a football pedigree behind them would be taken very seriously, I hope our fellas give them all the respect they deserve on the day or it could get very wobbly for them.
Apart from the obvious loss of tom, it could be said that overall as a panel, the team is actually stronger this year, when you have the option of bringing on the likes of hanley, j durkan, loftus, , nally, regan etc off the bench in a game, its not exactly shabby, lots of youth and speed there to cause trouble to any team. I know some of this team has a lot of miles on the clock but to read some of the national coverage and obituaries, youd imagine that every player on the panel was 30 +, theres still no doubt life in this team yet and i can see us having a big say in this years championship yet, tipperary will no doubt be a challenge, but i dont think their near the level they were at in 2016, mayo should have 5 or 6 points to spare over them.
I remember a song our supporters used to sing during colleges matches – It was taken from the Henri Witermans Half Corona ad. and went like this:
Try them all, try them all – the long and the short and the small,
‘cos for every occassion, take a Limerick, take a Tipperary the mildest opponents of all….
Repeat: Try them all, try them all……
If you put the Mayo, Mayo, Mayo, chant after that it would be very powerful support..
Sinead, if you could get that going it would be great
Truly enjoyed that Revellino.
I have to disagree over the rarity of the flute though- no shortage of them in my lifetime and they always show themselves at the worst possible time. Many disappear after individual disasters but there is always another one to take his place.
And don’t forget some like to preen themselves and become the centre of attention during a major show. Totally agree though they are harboured by flutes further up the line and defended by a different breed of flute in a comfy chair.
For me Deegan should be re-christianed the Dublin Maurice, to replace / join the Dublin Joe McQuillan, I never know what to expect from him, he seems to always wear a large smile on his tanned face even when lecturing a player and dishing out a black card. The red card appears to be more popular now than the black one.
Some people are looking for a ready made replacement for Tom Parsons, I agree Diarmuid O Connor has the best engine for this role, but his fielding / knocking down the ball may be suspect, while Coen did well against Limerick he probably wont start there for the bid Super 8 games.
Maurice Deegan….. I suppose we were bound to get him at some stage. Only thing is, he is likely to be equally inconsistent for both teams!
How many All Irelands has Maurice Bloody Deegan cost us up to now?
Anyway, good people of Mayo, get your trousers at half mast and brace yourselves.
We are about to get shafted by the smiling assassin again. We could still win the game though but it will be painful.
———————————
Professor Yoplait claims major psychiatric breakthrough and finally figures out Brillo .
——————————————
Brillo sent by Indo masters to confront Yoghurt
——————————————-
Professor Yoplait was jumping up and down with great excitement . He was in his lab at the back of Paidi’s place and he had made a world first discovery .
He had just unlocked the secrets of diagnosing serious mental illnesses like Schizophrenia , paranoid disorders , psychosis and other major madness illnesses.
This was huge !
A Nobel prize was a mere formality .
He thought to himself “phew “ , he was lucky he already had a stack of All Ireland medals in his back pocket cause otherwise this discovery would mean nothing to the people of Kerry.
I mean he pitied ( regular )people who made these kind of world beating advances in Kerry . Because they’d get no recognition . Absolutely zero.
The only currency there was All Ireland medals . The Skelpies themselves had insisted on this. And that was the last word on it .( FYI Yoghurt thought the Nobel people also would want to check your back pocket before giving out prizes)
But his excitement could not be contained. He , and he alone , now had the power to diagnose mental illness merely by looking at someone.
He made it all look so simple ( in the way he made playing football ,back in the day , look simple ) but everyone knew that to have this “ force “ within him had to be underpinned by serious 3 -D artificial intelligence , ridiculously complex coding , intersecting algorithms galore and the insertion of thousands of nano lasers at the back of his own retina.
He thought to himself proudly that he was in fact now more like Spock from Star Trek. He wondered what PO would think ?
Yoghurt was modesty personified and wouldn’t dream about being boastful about these unquestionably major accomplishments .
He was also aware that “the force “ demanded that he personally never look in the mirror and try self diagnosis. No , that was the other side of this power and if he fancied doing that he knew that the mirror would crack and he would lose his power like Sampson when Delilah cut his hair.
Yoghurt could never look in the mirror again at his astonishing self.
But you can imagine the editorial jaw dropping at The Indo ( who had not yet received the breaking news of a major breakthrough in mental diagnosis from Ard an Bothar ) when Yoghurt declared that he could “ see the madness in Andy McAntee’s eyes”
It was understandable that the editors demurred when asked to confront Yoghurt in all his brilliance about this. No , this was above their pay grade . There was nothing else for it . They would have to call in Brillo.
——————————————
Joe Blow ( aka Brillo ) had a reputation as a little man’s hard man . He was the king of the little man society he liked to believe . Club man ,check . Fund raiser ,check. Kidney donor , check .
But this assignment made him uncomfortable. The editors at the Indo had asked Blasphemy ( who himself was a six pack or two short of a party ) to approach Brillo , to in turn approach Yoghurt about his claims about being able to diagnose mental illness merely by looking at people.
But Brillo also was personally uncomfortable because Toe Mass was his hero. When he stood beside him he was vertically challenged and looked up to Toe Mass as a puppy dog would his master .
Also Brillo envied Toe Mass ‘s hair. Having a worn out Brillo pad for hair made standing beside Kerry’s own toy boy ,shall we say , uncomfortable .
And he was optically challenged too with those ridiculous glasses that he had developed a tic from putting back up his nose.
Yet there was a deeper worry for Brillo who worried that Toe Mass ( who was also professor of ornithology at University of Cork ) and who always looked at Brillo in puzzlement like he was a strange bird , might finally figure it out.
This cross genius between ornithology , mental illness and advanced technology meant that Yoghurt was a formidable academic figure.
There was already fierce debate in North Kerry as to what kind of bird Brillo was . Some thought he was a tit , others a nut hatch , others a booby .
Yoghurt thought that he was a bit of a booby hatch. I mean Brillo unleashed bedlam like most people exhaled .
His greatest fear was to be recognized for the Punch and Judy shit show that was actually raging inside his head and to end up in a padded cell on a funny farm down in Carlow , next to Derek Zoolander.
With Yoghurts new power it would be a cinch to diagnose his pathology . How would he navigate this ?
To be continued …. ???
Tipperary showed some good form in the league and the goal threat is clearly there with them registering 13 goals in 7 matches while only conceding 5. The losses against Cavan by a point and to Down by 2 points cost them promotion and wins over Cork/Meath/Louth shows they have potential. Mayo need to tighten it up at the back as conceding 3 against a very limited Limerick side will im sure give belief to Tipp that they can rattle the net a few times.
This is a fair but tough game for Mayo, if we win, should give confidence for future days. We really struggle versus tight defences so avoided that hurdle for now. Expect to win, and will be back from holidays to see us in rd 3.
Finally, I do not see why people whinge about refs, our losses in finals is not due to the refs, they make mistakes but we seem to forget our mistakes and errors and look for faults somewhere else. Teams that win focus on their improvements, on what they can control and mitigate the impact of variables like one off refs decisions.
But Mikey this is why we whinge about referees, mainly in finals.
Here come the bullet points Swahili.
1, No black / red card for the Johnny elbow into the opponents face last Sunday.
2, No card for John Small, hand trip
on Andy Moran in final replayed final of 2016, no card for John Small for intent / clear punch to Cillian O Connor in same game.
3, Very soft black card dished out to Lee Keegan in replayed fonal of 2016.
4, Harsh enough card for Vaughan in 2017 final.
5, No penalty awarded to Keegan and maybe Doherty in 2017 final.
6, The fiasco v Kerry in semi final of 2014 in Limerick.
One more thing, Deegan was the ref for the drawn semi final v Kerry lasy year, he did let alot of savage tackles go unpunished, but this would be different in a final v the Dubs.
Well said Mayo88.
A team can make some mistakes, but if they deserve to win then they should win.
It wasn’t because of mistakes that Mayo have not lifted Sam in recent times.
It was because of biased refereeing as Mayo88 has pointed too above.
A referee’s job is to ensure that the rules of the game are enforced equally to both teams. This has not happened in many of Mayo’s biggest games.
Mistakes are a part of the game. Biased refereeing is not supposed to be, but unfortunately is.
What’s the point moaning about refs Looks to me that we don’t like any of them. Sure we got raw deals here and there but for me the one who really screwed us was Cormac Reilly in Limerick in 2014 In contrast I thought Gough was generous to us last year v Kerry but the Kerry crowd thought he was woeful. Speaking of bad decisions Robbie Kiely Tipps excellent centre back got a woeful black card against us in 2016. If we are good enough we should beat Tipp even if Trump is reffing and Kim is doing umpire.
Have to pull you up on the harsh card for Vaughan. It was terribly stupid to do what he did. He realised as soon as the ref called him.
Im no fan of Maurice perma tan Deegan but I thought he was very fair to our Andy when he lost his head v Tyrone in League game this yr.
Tipp at their best are a good Div 2 team so let’s not waste the opportunity to further develop some fringe players along with so many of our seasoned lieutenants. If we stick with the same old starting 15 we all know what the end result will be for the 2018 championship season. Rochford and his management team are smart people and know this all to well. They will continue to see these early qualifier games as an opportunity to blood a couple of the newer generation into teak tough warriors. Crowe, Kirby, Nally, Hanley and Durcan should all be seeing some game time in Thurles. Regan for me has had more than his fair share of chances over the years and it is high time he made way for some of the younger forward talent that is breathing down his neck for a chance to make a difference to this team. Give youth it’s fling, just like Galway, Kerry, Roscommon are doing with good success – but better in the knowledge that there is an expansive seasoned panel of players behind them that can bring the entire match day 26 to an even higher level.
Yep I’d echo them sentiments , it usually pans itself out , Reilly in 14 was bordering ridiculous bit what can ya do.
The only other thing I’d have flashbacks over is basticks pick up in the last play of 16 drawn game . That was the winning of the all Ireland there for sure but such is life. I’ll never forget how Cillian was looking for clarification , Regan was on the deck , Philly McMahon bossed the whole thing though he didn’t let Cillian get his case into the refs ear . It was like McMahon s body language was to the ref ” it’s a fucking draw , let us go again next week fook that mouth piece he’s a bulshitter” and pushed Cillian away
Maurice is a terrible referee. Any team would have a great chance against us with him on the whistle. I think he does not know all the rules and his decision making is suspect. If we get him now we will not get him later on -Right?
I think the problem is lack of accountability.
The analysts don’t even analyse what have been horrendous decisions when Mayo are involved in the match. Their go to is, you cannot win an All ireland without a marquee forward. As was rightly discussed we will very shortly have the highest ever championship scorer to ever lace on a pair of boots. The current player of the year is a Mayo forward.
I don’t give in to this “stop whinging” tripe that is always recited when anyone complains about unfair refereeing. If it happened it happened and believe me it happened.
It.won’t be solved on the blog and unfortunately it probably won’t be solved at all.
In any other sport the sh1t would hit the fan. Olympic referees sent home, Soccer referees relegated from doing top games for poor calls (not even biased calls). But Mayo told again and again “stop whinging and grin and bear it”.
I certainly don’t like to hear that we didn’t win because we were not good enough when in fact on many of these days we were more than good enough but Mr I don’t have to account for my calls decided the other team was going to win.
JG, Yes Deegan was fair enough that day but he rode us too many times, Leeroy’s Black Card in 2016 replay cost us the AI , I am convinced.
Leeroy said it himself. “When we are good enough, we’ll win it”. Lee doesn’t blame refs for our All Ireland defeats, so neither will I. Each ref has a style, it’s up to us to play accordingly
I remember many moons ago a teacher in Jarlaths reading to us a recap of a match that had been played decades earlier.
Jarlaths had hammered the opposition. Not sure of the exact score but it was something in the order of 5-16 to 0-1.
The account went on to say that the opposition had seemed to score a 2nd point but the umpire disallowed it because he reckoned the ball had been kicked too high.
I wouldn’t even like to contemplate the uproar their would have been after last year’s all Ireland if the referee had given us the decisions he gave Dublin and given Dublin the decisions he gave Mayo.
I still remember the Joe Duffy.show and the Dublin callers complaining about the cheek of the Mayo team when they went to the hill end to do their warm up in 2006. Fado fado.
Mayo focus. Neither managment or players can give out about officiating after a game because they know they will get a double dose the next time if they do.
Are we really blaming refs for not winning All Ireland’s? Be sensible. We have just fallen short for various reasons but if a referee doesn’t stop teams from winning things . Get real , they make mistakes but not to the point that that’s why we can’t win a final . If you heard child blaming a ref you would stop them straight away and tell them to focus on themselves
Well said Revellino.
Well 2 dubs run right into each other and the referee gives them a free in which is scored. Bastick picked the ball clean off the ground with his hands. A free in all day long in any other moment in time but no, free out given, as mentioned in a post above, the referee played for the draw and did not enforce the rules fairly. There’s definite bias towards some teams for certain. Anyways, the ref gets some calls wrong for sure, it’s a given but there should be a way of calling for video evidence on the spot maybe 4 times per team during the bigger games. That would sort it out.
So you all think Deegan is fair, sorry I cannot agree, the guy is a ‘fake’ and a complete joke..
Have to say it is slightly annoying having to watch Galway and Ross again in a Connacht final for the third year in a row. This is where we should be every year like Kerry in Munster and Dublin in Leinster, where the biggest and best footballing county in the west but still have managed not to end up in our Provincial final for 3 years.I will be going to the game mainly to shout for our Under 20s in the Connacht final.Hope there is a big turnout of Mayo supporters with there colours on Sunday god knows we need to deliver a provincial title at this level so anyone 50/50 about going please come out and support, and tickets are going quick only 18 thousand capacity in the Hyde Sunday!! Also the Mayo teams who won Connacht titles in 1992 and 93 will be honoured on the day some great names will be there including Willie Joe Padden, Tj Kilgallon, Liam McHale, Gabriel Irwin, Peter Forde, Kevin O’Neill , Kevin Staunton and Ray Dempsey to name a few so please come out and support in your Green and Red colours.
Will be at the Hyde by 1 pm as ticket gives that as throw in time for the U20 even though I read somewhere that 1.30 is the actual start time. Is this what we can expect from here on, with long gaps between games to allow for possible two periods of extra time and possible frees? If so one might as well abandon the idea of curtain raisers altogether as people will just not go early, which is , or was, the idea of curtain raisers in the first place. Whether I can stick it hanging around waiting for the senior final I’m not so sure. May well be heading away early.
JC, A referee can well decide the result in a close game. Example1: Last weekend, Tyrone v Meath. A deserved free to Meath near the end would have given a draw. Example 2: If Johnny Small had got a black card early on in a final V Dublin [’16 or ’17] it would have left Dublin witout a very influential player and one sub less towards the end of the game. Example 3: If Shane Enright had got a deserved black card to add to the yellow he had already got in the Limerick semifinal v Kerry in 2014 Kerry would have been playing with 14 men for almost an hour. Would it have affected their ability to last the hour and extra time? Example 4: In the 2010 Leinster final Meath v Louth was the ref’s decision to award the late Joe Sheridan “goal” not a decisive factor? Yes, if you are good enough you should win anyway but in a close match good refereeing can make all the difference.
I actually think the biggest bad call-of many- was allowing O;Callaghan 10-12 steps for the opening goal last year, any player on the field would score giving this latitude. Number two might be the penalty that should have been after the Keegan play-on, either call got right and the journey would be over.
Andy D, you are 100 % correct in those particular examples…. Go back to last Saturday, not for obvious reasons that I am bitter about it, but were either of the ‘Penalty’ s’… Real.. I was in the Makey Stand and listening to the Radio Coverage.’ Limerick FM ‘.. At 95FM excellent match commentary, in case any of us will be in the’ Gaelic Ground’s’ again… They were far from convinced that either were penalties… The first, after having watched it again and again, I honestly can’t see any foul in the area. The second there was a very slight pull of a jersey, with the ball no where within reach of the particular Limerick forward… 9 times out of 10 you wouldn’t get the decision…. Saturdays game was very sporting, and the Ref got almost everything right, but it’s not like that normally… If any Ref was to blow for every foul committed…. He’d wear out the Whistle in no time at all… Gaelic-football is mostly a very difficult game to Ref…. I seen the TV coverage of the after match scene’s in Navan on Saturday… The GAA needs to learn from Rugby… But we will never have any match without mistakes including those of the Referee….. By and large, those who let the Ref down are their own officials… A recent example is the fiasco of the goal that wasn’t a goal in the Tipperary Waterford hurling match at the same venue the previous week…. Of course, then you have the extreme examples of catastrophic referring like Cormac Reilly in 2014 & Sludden, who actually overruled his umpires and allowed a Joe Sheridan Try to be registered as Goal, stealing a deserved Leinster Crown from the true winners of it, Louth.. A first in about, 50 years… Of course it should have been disallowed… If that excuse for a Ref, even got confused and taught that he was Reffing a Rugby match, he should have disallowed the resultant ‘TRY’ for a ‘knock on’… If course if the Meath County Board had any real commemment to sportsmanship or justice, Louth would have at least got a replay… Ger Loughlane was a hard man for hurling, and indeed he would and did almost anything to help Clare win back in his Day.. But to his and Clare’s eternal credit, when Clare had won the 1998 All Ireland hurling semifinal V Offaly,… After the Ref making a genuine mistake and blowing the final whistle minutes early… Clare and Ger Loughlane were quick to offer Offaly a replay… A Replay that Offaly won, and went on to defeat Kilkenny in the 1998 All Ireland hurling final… Maybe Meath feel hard done by, with decisions going against them last Saturday… But I doubt many in the Wee county of Louth feel very sorry for them!
Andy D yes, I agree refs can have big influence, especially in tight games . But take your first example, Meath should you have seen the game out in normal time so their inability to do that (which the best teams would have done) put game into extra time. It was in their hands so they must take responsibility too, not just the ref for his mistake that came later.
Refs can influence the game but they cannot be used as the reason why teams have or have not won all Ireland’s. We have had numerous chances to win Sam since 51 and management, players etc. have not taken those chances despite the fact that we have had and still have some incredible players.
We should beat Tipp comfortably considering the panel at our disposal and we should be able to do that without even caring who the ref is.
I didn’t like Deegan obviously but I cannot know whether he purposely is unfair to Mayo . He admitted after final he got it wrong, more than our management did by admitting they got the goal keeper change wrong which to me was a bigger factor in us losing by a point and highlights that refs can influence the game but they are not the reason for our loss. We could have won and would have won if the players and management were good enough, same as Meath on Sunday
Andy McEntee should get a severe ban.
Good luck recruiting refs within 2 years if that kind of aggression towards a ref goes unpunished. A ref will get 90% of calls right, that’s all we can ask and expect. If you called 100% of fouls the game would never flow.
Your heart would go out to poor Meath wouldn’t it
JP
Lee Keegan black carded in AI final. Not a mistake. Intentional call to get Mayo’s best player off the pitch.
2 blue Dublin jerseys collide in last year’s final. A free given to Dublin. An easy score to Dublin.
A drunk monkey wouldn’t get that call wrong. Not a mistake. Intentional call to benefit Dublin.
Can you imagine what affect that call had on the Mayo heads in the dressing at half time. “Jaysus lads, it doesn’t matter what we do here today, this bollix is goin to give everything to dublin”. It’s hard enough to beat the Dubs. Impossible to beat them with a favourable ref behind them.
Nobody has problems with genuine mistakes.
Genuine mistakes by referees are not the problem here. Bias towards our opponents is the problem.
If you want to have a real conversation about refereeing stop clouding the debate by talking about mistakes. We’re not talking about and have no problem with mistakes. We’re talking about massive calls against Mayo which have prevented us from winning recent all irelands which were not mistakes.
@liberal role in the tie, ha ha not normally!!! But against Tyrone big time!!!!
In fairness Revellino , the Lee Keegan black card was without doubt a black card, it was a terrible kick out leading to a clear goal scoring opportunity – the two players colliding was unfortunate in that it was never a free – but it was equally unfortunate that Vaughan got sent off, that we kicked wides & hit the post.
Rather than blaming referees for one point losses maybe look at ourselves first .
@Revellino,
There have been many calls in finals we got in our favour that cancel out exactly what yer talking about deliberate bias.
Lee Keegan Black card – equally poor decision James Mccarthy black card
Con OCallaghan steps – Andy Moran steps
and actually I have no complaints about Lee Keegan black card.
The two Dublin players colliding I wouldn’t say was bias, more that the human mind can interpret quick events wrongly.
I once witnessed a collision at a traffic lights where a car ran a red light. I was then unable to think was it one car running a red early not waiting for Red to turn green or the other car running the Amber/Red late. An accident 10 metres away from me with the lights clearly visible.
JP
If the 2 cars that collided were blue would you say it was a green car that caused the accident ?
Refs make mistakes but they more often than not balance out and really can’t say any are biased, just frustrating mistakes when a game is tight. The Bastic pickup I missed on that day and was only about 40m away, it was missable for a ref. The Keegan black was more like an example of weak refereeing following a Dublin media blitz and Connolly’s remonstrations. However another ref might also have given it too. The 2 Dublin lads running into each other was bizarre and shouldn’t have been a free but I still think it’s a stretch to call the refs bad call deliberate.
Blaming the ref is a victim mentality. I haven’t ever heard any Mayo players or Management complain about poor calls in the aftermath or using the ref as an excuse. They just get on with it.
shufflydeck, would dublin have been given that free if keegan lifted the ball of the ground, Yes. Would Mayo have been given a free if 2 mayo lads crashed into each other, NO. And now we have the perma tanned smiling assassin reffing the tipp match.
The GAA have tweeted brief highlights of the game – here. I’ve looked at it a few times and that back-heel flick up by Cillian ahead of the first goal does appear to have been deliberate. Sublime skill. And will you ever see two softer penalty awards? I doubt it.
It was Conor Lane, not Maurice Deegan, who didn’t give us the free for Bastick’s pick off the ground. Mind you, Conor Lane was fine in that game and the way Evan Regan steamed into Bastick as he made the pick-up meant the free was always likely to go the other way, especially since a free to us would have handed us the result as well.
We will just have to make sure our man from the limerick fiasco is there in semple stadium to keep a close eye on the ref, and ready to fight our corner if need be,lol.
To balance up for the soft free the ref gave to Dublin when the two players collided – he gave us an equally soft free to Jason Doc just after half time. In I think the 2016 final just after Keegan got the goal -one of our forwards carried through and hit Copper right in front of the two umpires – no action was taken. If a Dublin forward hit one of our defenders and it was ignored – we would claim the officials turn a blind eye because its Dublin. Every county can list out examples in games when decisions went against them – especially when they lose the game.
Andy D makes a good point that contradicts several here including myself. However to win games you have to play what’s in front of you. For the most part players and Management understand that and the odd time someone of them will flip the lid.
The ref isn’t going to bring back a bad call, the best a clever player can do is influence the next few decisions to balance things out. If Mayo had won any of those games we wouldn’t give a hoot about any bad calls and some opposition fans would be bringing up plenty of examples where they were wronged by the ref.
AOS dives against Fermanagh. We get a dodgy penalty and that’s all people and Fermanagh management speak about afterwards and they sound pathetic and it deflected from the truth which is that mayo hammered them second half and were going to win anyway as we were the better team . That’s how we sound when we moan about refs . We get our share of decisions and let’s not be victims in our mentality, it’s not healthy
Can anybody list me the crucial decisions that helped us win all Ireland finals or semis for that matter. Take your time with it.
I can and others have identified big calls that that have got Dublin on several occasions, Kerry and Meath over the line in the biggest games of all.
If refereeing is impartial then we have identified the decisions that cost us. I keep hearing that decisions balance out. So can someone identify for me an All Ireland win for us where the calls were in our favour.
Just watched the flick there a few times. Very quick thinking and great skill to pull it off. The penalties were very soft. They put them away well and it kept the scoreboard half respectable for Limerick.
The Tipp match will be a very good test for us. They play a nice style of football and not a rough style either. It should be a very good game to watch. Plenty of skill on both sides.
Revellino. Have to say the black card for Darren O Sullivan in last years semi final was a terrible call , one instigated by cillian o Connor.. probably wouldn’t have changed the result but i remember thinging at the time any chance Kerry had was gone with that terrible call.
Aidan didn’t dive, JC, his ankles were clipped. Replays showed this clearly … though he did fall with a certain elegance!
Agree Tuamstar. A bad decision.
Lad’s. Jesus.. Two Dub’s collide and free given. Watch clip back. It’s on YouTube.. Two Dub’s collide Ciarán kilkenny comes out with ball and is then fouled.. Free given. Just because some rte commentator says doesn’t mean it is.. Dessie Dolan saying it wasn’t a red card on Cluko.. It was… Kevin MC stay forever on my recording of semi 2013.as kev MC scores a super goal in the best match of my life”yes I think he miss hit it”… Come on… Kevin Kimmage a runt of a man with a chip against Gaa has a rant after all Ireland final last year about half a dozen mayo men been hauled to the ground. And it’s now said on newstalk as fact.. Again watch it back.. One player hauled down Lee keagan for which Kilkenny got black card.. Who knows what he seen to target Lee?? Or just went for most dangerous player on the pitch.. But on here you are constantly saying about low standards of rte and media which is true… I do think Mayo are coming this year.. Cluko gone with ribs and Connelly in state’s (all from a kerryman with free rein on rte). Without Diarmo Dublin would not have won Any of the five all Irelands this decade and I’m worried we won’t do it without him… Mayo are coming
Lads. Let it go about the refs. We can list all the poor decisions (and these are numerous) but it won’t make a blind bit of difference to the past or the future.
It’s something that the GAA need to work on but to be fair having one lad in his mid forties racing around a pitch after lads in their twenties and expected to spot everything is a tall order. Particularly when the Umpires only required qualification is to have an appetite for sandwiches and be able to put up with whatever changes in weather that might come up at the grounds. The linesmen are a help but really we should be getting to a stage where there are 2 refs on the pitch (as they do in Aussie rules) and they manage it between them.
Mind you that would put added cost to the GAA, which no doubt they would only reduce the games development funding.
Ok Willie Joe – maybe it wasn’t a dive then, even more reason why constantly moaning about it from a Fermanagh point of view is pointless, same way constantly moaning about decisions against us is pointless.
Revellino- I think Dublin got themselves the All Ireland’s, not the calls from referee, although we did take them right to the wire with heroic performances
I’d certainly agree with you there, JC – Pete McGrath was still whining about it that Christmas, making out that the penalty decision effectively decided the game, which was a bit of a stretch. I’d agree too that we’re as well to let it go about the refs. Everyone knows the standard is shocking and that the GAA is simply not interested in doing anything about this. It is what it is and, like everyone else, we just have to get on with it.
In all honesty, who would want to be a referee nowadays? When you see managers, supporters etc coming on to the field to confront officials, garda escorts , you would wonder why?
@Tuamstar. Fully agree. Being a ref these days has no upside, and nothing but downside.
When you see the treatment they get, and the threats made against them, you’d wonder why they bother.
Still waiting for someone from the pro referee brigade to rattle off a Mayo All Ireland win due to favourable calls.
Polls.close in 20 minutes.
Answers on a postcard to the man in the pink suit.
Tick tock tick tock.
As Jack Nicholson said to the book seller at his door. ” Go sell crazy somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here”.
Debates are exactly that. Maybe I’m not right but I debate for what I believe ,not what someone else tells me to believe. Maybe referees don’t favour other teams, I.don’t believe that.
Many argued and believed that the referee hadn’t seen Thierry Henris handball. It then emerged that a 5 million payment had been made to the Fai. If it was a genurine mistake would the soccer body have felt an onus to compensate Ireland for the referees decision. We could have kept on believing that the referee was human and had erred but the 5 million payment pointed to a favorable decision to France and not an error of judgment by the match official.
Was at European Championship final in Bilbao between Leinster and Racing a few weeks back. Leinster were prevented from playing their usual game by a combination of the weather and opponents with well tuned tactics. There was also a ridiculous referring decision given against Leinster. Yet Leinster managed to be ahead for two minutes of the game, starting in the 78th. They were in front when it matters. Winners always find a way. Losers always find an excuse.
To be fair Willie Joe we was tripped but RTE made a meal of that and really went to Town on Aido. I’ve not seen Marty Morrisey show any replays of incidents to managers with his Ipad since then, nor did I ever see it happen beforehand.
Fair play to Aido for putting up with the utter tripe that gets thrown at him on and off the pitch by washed up pundits and “fans” of certain counties.
I include in that group certain of our own county men including one particularly useful idiot on Twitter who to his credit does offer some good updates on club games, but is otherwise a pleb.
Goodman Berry. The Dublin way is make sure you have the right man reffing.
Revellino- due to my age I cannot confirm if the ref helped us with his decisions in 1951, sorry about that. And due to our lack of All Ireland win since then you will probably have to close that poll and say you are clearly correct. Mayo do not win All Ireland’s because of refs ( that kills of talk of the curse) and Dublin only win All Ireland’ because of refs and you are the winner of the discussion and there’s probably no point in us playing anymore this year because the refs are going to stop us winning, it’s all so unfair but never mind, at least you win your poll
lads about the ref lasts years all ireland i think yer 4 th point
should have been a free out to dublin andy moran elbows jonny cooper
in the back and get the ball and passed it coc to score also in the second half
aden o shea foot blocks i think james
mc carthy right in front of the ref thats an automatic black card as ye said before
when the 2 dublin players collided should not been a free either and donie losing his head the problem
ye had was ye missed easy chances in the first half as did dublin ye put so
much efford into the first 50 minutes ye were dead on yer feet and dublin bought
on there subs the problem with mayo is ye haven.t got enough of quality fowards
thats why i think ye will fall short again this year i think kerry maby galway might have
a small chance of beating the dubs
I am sure if the minors in 2013 and u21 in 2016 lost these finals – there were instances where bad calls went against us on both these days and I am sure bad calls went against the opposition too. But these teams were still able to overcome these bad calls and still go on to win the game – that’s what it takes.
When Galway hurlers lost All-Irelands I would look at every incident where I felt the ref had not given us a fair crack of the whip and there were many things missed like Fennellys heavy foul on Joe at the start of the second half in the replayed All-Ireland but missed by the ref!! At the end of the day we were not good enough to win without relying on marginal decisions so the onus is on the team to put themselves in a position that not even effy refs can lose them the match. I think conversion rates won us last years match as eveything we hit went over but with all due respect sometimes Mayo have kicked very poor wides in finals when those scores could have pushed them over the line.
I see our odds are shortening again on Paddy Power…. We are gone from 2/7 to 2/9 and Tipp gone from 3/1 to 4/1 for the game… Back to 12/1 for AI from 14/1… someone is lumping the cash on us!
I think it’s fairly harsh to say the standard of refereeing is shocking, I think the rules – and the huge amount of them along with the speed of the game make it tough. I think referees by and large do a decent job, of course there are some bad ones , easily influenced etc but it’s very easy to be a hurler on the ditch when it comes to speaking about referees in high profile games with multiple camera angles and slow motion replays.
Is it right that if any of our qualifier games finishes level after normal time do the following rules apply -?
2 ten minute periods of extra time. Then 2 five minute periods of extra time if still level. If still level after 100 minutes we would have to nominate 5 players who played at any time during normal time or extra time to take frees from the 45. If still level it would go to sudden death with the same 5 players taking 45s so order would be important.
We drew games with Derry, Cork, Roscommon and Kerry last year, so nothing saying the above wont happen this year.
If it did what 5 free takers would we use and in what order?????
Was at a breakfast talk where Pat Gilroy spoke this morning. First Dublin person I have heard speak honestly about Mayo. Said very little between Mayo and Dublin. Thinks they will be in the shake up again this year to challenge Dublin with Kerry and maybe Donegal.
I feel it is unfair the comments that are being made about our ‘twitter friend’ and people should really look at what they are posting themselves before commenting on others. He provides a great service keeping people updated about club matches when there is a virtual blank of news on social media if he was not doing it. A hint of fair weatherism here with peoples obsession with the county teams. Hardly 200 people at the U20 game on Saturday is a further indication of this fair weatherism. Some of the crowd I listened to in Limerick I would say have never been to a club game. Do they know where these players have come from at all? IMO site is turning into a farce with stories about cowboys, conspiracies with refs and the Dublin monster. Who cares what Pete McGrath thinks? Who cares what Hill 16 Army think? They are unworthy of being noticed let alone commented upon. Get back to the basics and comment on games, tactics, opposition (with respect), selections, etc.. Stop patting ourselves on the back saying what great supporters we are and turn up and support your clubs and underage teams. Over to the Moderator. I assume I have broken many rules here.
Great post sinabhuil
Agreed Sinabhuil.
Complaining about refs is tiresome. We’ve had as many dodgy decisions for as against.
Lim – when did a foot block become a black card?
Could you also take a bit of time to review what you’re posting before you hit ‘Send’? It’s all a bit streams-of-consciousness!
I don’t think you’ve broken any rules at all there, Sinabhuil. People who comment here are given a wide enough latitude to say what they want (within reason) which inevitably leads to some weird and wonderful things being posted. The point about going to club matches is a fair one, though not relevant for the many – myself included – who live well outside the county. I put more than enough mileage in as it is and plenty more going to club matches (in particular juvenile ones) up here as well.
a_mc – I stuck a tenner on us at 14/1 yesterday, must be my huge bet that has shortened the odds! Sorry everyone
You’re not wrong about your Twitter friend Sinabhuil (or indeed in most of what you say) and the updates on club games is indeed most welcome, particularly for those of us not blessed to be based in Mayo. However the general snide attitude of the same individual takes away from the good work he does.
I’d assume the poor showing at the under 20’s games was down to the fact that to catch the Limerick game later that day would involve a decent motor and the risk of a couple of penalty points.
Sinabhuil… It’s hard to be at two match’s in the same day when the venue is more than 100 miles apart… I know it’s possible and actually know someone who did it.. But come off it…. Mayo fans are the best, and recognised as the best…. I spoke to a Westmeath fan recently… . About the upcoming Westmeath /Armagh game, he wasn’t too optimistic about Westmeath chances, but reckoned if Westmeath had the Support of Mayo, it would be a different story.. You say that only 200 or so were in Castlebar last Saturday for the U21… match,… Well that’s about the same as Limerick fan’s in Limerick last Saturday….. I actually don’t think that us having a go at Ref’s is going to do us any good… Even tough, I gave out plenty about Dublin Joe McQuillian in the aftermath of last year’s All Ireland final….(I even posted the YouTube link to Dublin Steps) Personally I think that when the Referee has good proactive, help on the sideline and umpires, the Reffing is usually much better.. Ala Gough, who we had in the Kerry replay… True Darren O Sullivan black was a wrong call, but I don’t in the slightest think that Kerry were wronged… Paddy Durcan second yellow and subsequent red was also wrong… Kerry actually got away with blue murder in the draw, and the thuggery inflicted on especially Tom Parsons by Crowley was criminal… Kerry dug deep into the dark arts for the Replay as well, pulling and dragging even before the first throw in.. It made it a difficult match to Ref, no wonder their were card’s, rightly so… And the best team won… Paddy Nielan was the Ref between Meath and Kerry…. I only seen the RTE highlights so cannot rightly judge… But from what I have seen of Neilan, I think he is one of the better Referee’s currently on the circuit… Jim Gavin wasn’t happy about him, when Kerry beat Dublin in a league final, and said that a more experienced referee should get the big match’s… Really Jim, hadn’t it more to do with Dublin loosing that, rather than the Refs performance!
Sinabhui – Cowboys, Limericks, Pats in the Backs – you summed things up on here to a tee. Lets get back to talking football. Refs, conspiracies, media….Mayo need to be looking at our own shortcomings, poor decision making, lost opportunities rather than blaming others. That’s the reality
Leantimes – Neilan is not one of the better refs. He did okay in that league final from memory but he’s notoriously bad at applying the advantage rule.
Wide ball… It’s all subjective… I’m going by the match’s that I seen Paddy Neilan reffing!
How many will be at U20 game in Hyde Park? I feel that comparing our support in McHale Park on Saturday with the Limerick support in The Gaelic Ground is also not relevant. If Mayo finished second last in Division 4 and were expecting a 20+ point drubbing there would have been a lot less support in Limerick! We need to stop playing the victim, stop complaining about other teams, other refs and other media outlets. The GAA way is that you support your own team, take your beatings and rise up and go again. As regards people who think Mayo have the best supporters I suggest we have the most supporters (bar Dublin). The best supporters support the likes of Carlow, Longford and Limerick. Until I see crowds at club games, underage games and training I will reserve judgement.
Let me pose a question lads: how many of ye have ever reffed a match? Because I have (at a level far lower than senior inter-county) and it’s far from easy. Take the difficulty of officiating any contact field sport, add in having to police the number of steps/ bounces/ lack of a defined tackle in gaelic football and it really isn’t very easy.
Also, I’m fed up with hearing the whingeing coming from some Mayo fans about referees having cost us All-Irelands, blah blah blah. We haven’t won Sam since 1951 because since then we’ve never had a sufficient supply of top class forwards in any one team to get us over the line.
No amount of iffy decisions accounts for our very poor record in All-Ireland deciders across all levels of the game.
Rant over.
Sinabhuil.. We have the most supporter’s, Dublin included and I suggest easily the best supporter’s… Long distance travelled, more Final days heartbreak than any other.. The Roscommon support always turn out, probably the second best after Mayo.. I would make the destintion that the travelling Mayo supporter’s are better than the MacHale Park support.. Dublin gets virtually every championship match at home, and many attending those match’s are not necessarily Dublin fan’s, many are like I once was attending every Dublin match because I was living in Dublin at the time… Cork football supporters are easily the least, those few that so are very good… Kerry not much better…even Eamon Fitzmorris was giving out about Kerry’s paltry numbers against us last year. Galway???.. Sunshine support .. Mayo in Limerick supporter’s on their own, easily outnumbered the the combined attendance for the recent Sligo Connacht semifinals in Salthill… In fairness for a county of their population.. Roscommon are good… Donegal and Tyrone always bring support…. And most of the Ulster teams bring support.. But the Mayo Support is the envy of every other county team…I can’t really tell you anything about the Carlow or Longford support, but I seen first hand the Limerick support, or rather didn’t see the Limerick support.. And that’s a fact!
Remember Denis Bastick picking the ball straight of the ground outside the square in injury time of the 2016 replay.Conor Lane would not give us an All Ireland like that.And remember that tackle by MD McCauley on Cillian o’Connor where he caught him high around the neck he should have gone for that.Don’t how anyone can defend refs in the big games against us.I have conspiracy theory feeling that the Gaa never want to see Mayo lift Sam ,they want the famine to go on forever cause it creates such interest and we make such entertainment for the Gaa.
TH – do you remember Finnerty missing against cork ? Do you remember mayo blowing 6 point lead v Meath, allowing a ball to hop over the bar? Do you remember mayo not turning up v kerry twice? Do you remember Rochford dropping best keeper in country with disastrous outcome? Do you remember Vaughan getting sent off for poor discipline? Do you remember doherty missing one on one with keeper? Do you remember Cillian hitting post in last minute while the rock nailed his score ? I do and I see no conpiracy there. I see a team not doing the right things to win
Hi Willie Joe looking at the Aidan O Shea incident the first throw in after half time
Aiden fouled James Mc Carthy and as he about
to take the free Aiden trips him as he takes free quickly to be honest after
watching it again i dont think there was much in it im just going by what
the commentator was saying the whole game is on youtube if anyone wants
to see it Maby im wrong but didn.t Kerry have a player sent off or get a black
card for tripping Aiden as he was taking a free in the league this year in
Castlebar to be honest a lot more Kerry players were lucky to stay on the
pitch that night
Any particular match you’re on abut there, lim? It’s not wholly clear from your comment.
With all due respect JC, if you are on about 04 and 06 against Kerry saying Mayo didn’t turn up is rubbish, they were simply not good enough to beat a clearly superior Kerry team.
Walter white , kerry were better team, hence why they won but mayo didn’t turn up either. There were outstanding players in those teams, not going to name them and they were good enough to perform better than they did in the day . Those mayo players were excellent footballers
hi again the first incident was last years all ireland final
if you look at the throw in in the second half when aiden gives away a free
the commentator was saying it should have been a black card which i
honestly thought would be harsh the second incident happened
in mayos last meeting with kerry in the league didnt a kerry player
get sent off or get a red card for either tripping or foot blocking
aiden and as i said earlier they were lucky that more players
weren .t sent off
I’m sorry lim but I really don’t see where you’re going with this line of thought …